Forgotten Boy
by WOSH
Summary: Naruto grew up in another village, a non-ninja village, where team Kakashi is coincidently having a mission. xx: I do not own the characters of Naruto, however, I do own the OC's.
1. Chapter 1

**So, this is my first time writing a Fanfiction… Please take care of me and sorry for my English, it's not my native.**

**Summary:**

Naruto grew up in another village, a non-ninja village, where team Kakashi is coincidently having a mission.

_**Edited: 13**__**th**__** of August, 2013**_

_**Beta: Blackrazgriz**_

* * *

**Chapter 1**

Walking down the streets, a twelve-year old boy with blonde, spiky hair, plain jeans and shirt was carrying a basket full of fruits. He stopped at a little watermelon stand and stared at some of them. They looked good to him.

"Ah, Naruto-kun, can I offer you a watermelon?" the kind man at the stand asked the little boy, who was now identified as Naruto.

He smiled brightly. "Of course! Tonight I am going to help out at the academy; the parents are coming for a visit and we want to have some refreshments and fruits available for them."

"Well, I'll be there tonight; my youngest son wants me to see what he has done, so I'll be closing early today," the man said as he began looking for a great watermelon to give to Naruto. "By the way, did you hear about hear recent thieving going around in the village?"

Naruto shook his head in the negative. "I haven't heard about that, no. Is it serious?" he asked.

The man nodded. "Indeed, some gold have been stolen from the feudal lord," he said. "There has been a request sent to some Leaf ninja. They'll be here today. They asked me to take them in and be their guide, but I also have that parent night at the academy and so do you. I'm thinking of inviting them."

Naruto nodded. "You could do that. The more the merrier. Besides, since some of the students are orphans, we still have lots of room for some extra."

"Right, you just moved out of the orphanage. How is it living alone?" the man asked.

"It's actually fun, but I hate doing all the chores," Naruto whined.

The man laughed loudly. "Well, you'll just have to deal with that. I offered you to move in with us, but you refused, saying that you didn't want to bother us," the man said. "Anyways, here is your watermelon. Come visit my house any time, Taiga could really use company, with his broken leg and all."

Naruto chuckled nervously. "Ehehe… sorry about that. I tried talking him out of trying to be a ninja and jumping from tree to tree."

"Don't worry about that, my son is just an idiot like that." the man said.

"Yeah, sorry, he really is," Naruto agreed. "Well anyways, I have to go now, I can't be late. See you later tonight, Nakamaru-san!"

*o*o*o*

And with that, Naruto ran off to the academy, where he had to pass by the village's gates. He stopped as he looked at the three walking people outside the village. _That must be the ninja Nakamaru-san was talking about_, he thought.

"Kakashi-sensei," a girl with pink hair said, loudly, "There is a boy there; we could ask him to find the place we're looking for."

The tall man with silver hair nodded. "We could. He also seems to have spotted us. Wave kids!" he said as he waved to Naruto.

Naruto stared at the three ninjas, who were now standing in front of him_. Real ninja, I've never seen one up-close before_, Naruto thought.

"Hello," Kakashi said. "We're looking for a Nakamaru Kota-san."

Naruto nodded. "He's the owner of a watermelon stand, not so far away. I was just there, so he's still open."

The boy with spiky black hair stared at Naruto. "You look our age," he simply said.

"Um, I'm twelve…" he muttered. Naruto couldn't help but being a bit shy about this. He had never talked to people from another village before. "My name is Uzumaki Naruto, a friend of Nakamaru-san and his family."

"I'm Hatake Kakashi," the silver-haired guy said. "I'm the sensei of these two people. The pink-haired one is Haruno Sakura and the black-haired is Uchiha Sasuke."

"Nice to meet you all. I have to get these things to the academy fast, so I can't show you to Nakamaru-san, sorry," he said.

"Ah, we could help out," Sakura suggested. "We arrived early, so we're in no rush, right sensei?"

Kakashi nodded. "You seem to be holding a lot of things, Naruto-kun. Let me take this basket."

"A-Ah, it's alright, you don't have to," Naruto said politely. "I'm pretty strong, despite my untrained body."

"Just let us ninja do the job, Naruto-kun," Kakashi said as he took the watermelon out of Naruto's hands. "This is such a small village! It's like a quarter of the Leaf village!"

"Um-"

"Sensei, you shouldn't insult the village like that!" Sakura scolded. "Maybe it's a sensitive subject towards one of the villagers!"

"Ah, no-"

"Sakura~" Kakashi sang, "you just indirectly agreed with me."

"No really-"

"Stop talking about it," Sasuke said. "It's obvious that this guy isn't from this village."

"How is that obvious, Sasuke-kun?" Sakura asked.

Sasuke sighed. "By his name, Uzumaki. We learned about that name in the academy," he said as if that was the most basic information in the world. "The Uzumaki clan are supposed to be seal masters."

"But this guy looks nothing like a ninja, look at his arms, they're too thin!" Sakura said. "Even thinner than mine."

"Um, it's true that I'm not from here, but I don't know where I'm really from," Naruto interfered.

"Mah, mah, Sakura you shouldn't be jealous of his thin and formed arms," Kakashi teased.

"What did you just say, sensei?!" she yelled as she punched him, causing him to drop the watermelon.

Naruto paled. That was the watermelon to the academy. 'I bought it with their money,' he thought. "The watermelon…"

"Sorry, Naruto-kun," Kakashi apologized, "Sakura has always had anger managements problems. It's like every day is that time of the month with her."

"Sensei!" Sakura yelled, embarrassed. "I'm sorry, Naruto-kun, I'll buy a new watermelon for you."

"It was for the academy, so don't worry about it," he said. "I'll just go buy a new one, myself. I could show you to Nakamaru-san at the same time."

"I'll pay," she said. "You can't refuse; it was my fault that you dropped the watermelon."

"Which means, that I'll have to pay for her," Kakashi said with a finishing sigh.

*o*o*o*

"Ah, Naruto-kun," Kota said. "You're already back, huh? Oh, and you've brought ninja with you, huh?"

Naruto laughed, nervously. "Y-You see, I kind of stumbled upon them…"

"Let me guess," he said, "you lost the watermelon?"

Naruto sighed. "Um…"

"I know you've always had weak arms, but seriously…" Kota complained.

"S-Sorry…" he muttered.

"No!" Sakura exclaimed. "It was my fault, I'm sorry!"

"Haruno-san, it's alright, he isn't mad at me," Naruto said.

Kota laughed. "Don't mind, don't mind," he said. "Well then, I'll be closing for the day. Naruto-kun, feel free to pick any watermelon and come back to our place, alright? You can go after an hour!"

And so, Naruto agreed and the four of them took their leave to the Nakamaru residence.

*o*o*o*

"Oi, you," a boy with black hair and bright red eyes yelled. "You never visited me after the accident, you bastard!"

"Sorry, Tai-chan," Naruto muttered, as Team Kakashi and himself, were seated around the warm, warm kotatsu.

"Sorry my ass!" Taiga yelled. "You're not the least sorry, you're amused by this! Now, introduce me, you bastard!"

Naruto laughed shortly. "This is Hatake Kakashi-san, the leader of the team, and these are his two students, Uchiha Sasuke-kun and Haruno Sakura-san."

"Sakura-san, ne?" he muttered with a smug smile. "I am Nakamaru Taiga; you can all call me Tai-chan!"

Sakura bowed, politely, to him. "Please take care of us," she said.

Kakashi stared at Taiga's leg. "What happened, Tai-chan?"

"I fell from a tree," he answered plainly. "This guy is at fault," he pointed at Naruto, "If he hadn't suddenly ran up a tree and then jump from there to the roof of the academy, then I would've been fine, but no~! A cat is more important than me!"

Naruto sighed. "You shouldn't imitate me!"

"But you were bragging, as if you were a ninja!"

"I was trying to help the cat!"

"By acting like a ninja?! How come you even ran up the tree?!"

Kakashi, Sakura and Sasuke perked up again. "You ran up?" Kakashi asked, with his one eye, wide.

Naruto began trembling under their stare. "Y-Y…" he coughed, "yes…"

"Like, without your hands?" Sakura questioned.

He nodded.

Sasuke muttered: "Sharingan," and two red orbs came into sight, with one black tomoe on one and two on the other. Red met blue, which soon turned to black for Naruto.

_"You really think this is the right thing to do?" A person asked._

_"It's better for him here, than that village," Another answered._

_"If the village finds out that the Uchiha's helped the host, they'll think we're plotting something."_

_"He's a child!" the person yelled. "We can't leave his legacy in that town, only to get beaten up every minute of the day!"_

_The two of them ran through the forest as if their lives depended on it, with a little child in their hands. After some distance travelled, they stopped outside a small village. "This is where we'll leave him, Shisui?" The person, beside the one who was carrying the child, asked._

_"This is better and calmer for him," Shisui answered. "Now, we'll put him here…" He put the child down in front of the entrance to the village, managing to wake him up at the same time. "Ah, Naruto you're awake," he said and put his thumb on his forehead. "I'm sorry, but you'll have to forget all about Konoha."_

The black went away, and Naruto jumped up in shock, whilst Sasuke deactivated his Sharingan. Naruto looked at Taiga and bowed slightly. "Sorry, Tai-chan, I have to get to the academy now, bye!" and off Naruto went in a hurry with all the groceries and the newly bought watermelon.

"That bastard," Taiga muttered. "But hey, Sasuke-kun, you have some awesome eyes you know! I've never seen Naru-pyon like that!"

Sasuke raised an eyebrow. "Naru-pyon?"

He nodded. "Everyone our age calls him that, you know because animals love him!" Taiga laughed, "But he's still a mystery for everyone, since he came to this village. I was the one who found him! He was beaten up at the entrance to the village, and was cold from top to toe! I found him in the morning, on the way to dad's work, and then suddenly, BAM! A five-year old sat there, half dead!"

Kakashi perked up. "He was found, huh?" As he suspected, Naruto really is the Jinchuuriki.

Taiga nodded, yet again. "When he woke up, three days later, he couldn't remember anything but his name and some blurry images of him being beaten up by some unknown people. And then, when he was asleep, he kept on muttering Uchiwa, you know the fan."

(A/N: Uchiha comes from the word Uchiwa, which means fan, which also hints to the Uchiha clan symbol. Nice played, Kishi-sensei.)

"Uchiwa," Sasuke muttered in wonder, "have you found out where he was from?"

"Nope," Taiga answered immediately, whilst shaking his head, no. "But I see the potential of a ninja in him! You should be able to it too, sensei!"

Kakashi nodded. "Trust me; with what I've heard about already, there is no doubt that I have a suspicion for where he is from, and why you see a potential ninja in him."

Taiga blinked in wonder. "What, how come you've figured out where he is from?"

He gave an eye-smile. "Sasuke-kun already explained earlier, that Uzumaki is a clan name, which consists of seal masters. Although, Uzushiogakure, which is where the Uzumaki's are from, has already been destroyed, causing the worldwide Uzumaki diaspora. It's rare to actually see one, now-a-days."

"So he is a survivor from Uzushiogakure?" Taiga questioned.

Kakashi shook his head. "That incident happened before even I was born," Kakashi said. "But let me ask you something. Naruto-kun is an orphan, but how did he live here?"

"Ah, when we found him, we sent him to the orphanage where he got to go to the academy," Taiga answered. "Of course all the kids out there liked him, still does mind you, but I am his best friend! He lives alone right now, but my parents consider him as their own child, so he often eats here. Well, he hasn't exactly visited after the accident…"

They were silent for a few moments, until Kakashi spoke again. "Well, we better get ready for our mission, right?"

"Naru-pyon!" a little boy, with black hair and bright red eyes, called out. He was an exact copy of Taiga, just a bit younger.

"Ah, Yuuki-kun," Naruto greeted as the younger version of Taiga, who came and took some of the heavy groceries out of his hands. "Thank you."

"So, did you just walk out of my house?" he asked.

Naruto nodded. "Your older brother is mad at me…"

"Tai-nii-chan is?" Yuuki questioned. "Ignore that idiot, he isn't worth it."

"Ah, Yuu-chan, you shouldn't call your brother such names," he scolded.

Yuuki laughed. "Like you care, you said it last week!"

_I'm such a bad role model_, Naruto thought. "Anyways, chance the topic, you're helping out at the academy today, too, Yuuki-kun?"

He nodded, eagerly. "Yes, it'll be awesome! I've heard the ninjas are going to show up, too! It'll be so cool to hear an actual ninja story! I hate _legends_. They're so boring!"

Naruto laughed. "Though, I really like the one with the fourth Hokage of Konohagakure. The one where he defeats the Kyuubi. I always wonder how he did it."


	2. Chapter 2

**Ah, um… You see… I really liked your reviews, so… I decided to write more and maybe get a couple of reviews in return. They're really motivating. I also liked the favorites and alerts, thank you for the support.**

**Summary:**

Naruto grew up in another village, a non-ninja village, where team Kakashi is coincidently having a mission.

* * *

**Chapter 2**

"Ah, Naruto-kun," Kakashi sang happily, at the little village's academy's open house. "What do you learn here?"

Naruto looked up at him with a smile, as he offered him some juice, which he gratefully accepted. "We learn stuff about the village, about the marketing and what to do, when the village is under attack," he answered. "We also learn about other villages and their history. We learn about the past and the present."

"Eh," Kakashi muttered, "wouldn't it be more awesome to be a ninja?"

"Actually, I would like to start my own shop one day, so I think this school is pretty fun," Naruto answered honestly.

"What kind of shop?" Sasuke asked, as he held some water up in a cup. "You don't have that many opportunities in this small village, right?"

_W-What are they trying to say? _Naruto wondered. "Um, I really want to, maybe, have a business going, where I get out of the village a little. Like, they order some stuff from me that doesn't exist in this town, and I travel to another village to get it. Like that?"

"How is that a shop?" Sakura asked, curious. It seemed like team Kakashi was interested in the boy.

_A-Am I being attacked?_ He wondered, though with the suspicious thought he still managed to keep up a smile. "I could transport more items at once, so that I didn't have to make second turns. Like, I'll open the shop on weekdays, and close it to travel on weekends."

"Wouldn't you like living in a bigger village?" Sasuke questioned.

Naruto shook his head, no. "Though, this village is small and nothing interesting happens, everybody knows each other and we're all very happy," he replied with a smile.

"Sakura, Sasuke, over here for a moment," Kakashi ordered and they all moved away from Naruto and formed a circle while having their hands on their thighs. "The plan isn't working."

Sakura and Sasuke sighed. "Then how are supposed to persuade him to move to Konoha?" Sasuke asked.

"I'll use my feminine charm, I guess," Sakura suggested.

"We want him in, not out," Sasuke muttered.

"Rude," she said.

_I-I can hear you,_ Naruto thought, feeling uncomfortable under their discussion.

* * *

"Naruto-kun, could you help entertain some of the kids?" one of the teachers asked him, whilst pointing at the bored group of kids. "It would be a great help, whilst we talk with the parents."

"Sure," Naruto replied and walked towards the kids, who brightened up at his arrival.

"Naru-pyon!" they cheered in unison and with a smile on their faces.

A girl with light brown hair and green eyes, stood up from the ground she was sitting on, and walked towards Naruto and pulled him with her. "Hurry, hurry! We're bored!"

"Haven't you talked to the ninjas, yet?" he asked. "I'm sure they could tell you tons and tons of stories."

"But," the little girl stuttered, "but we like Naru-pyon's stories… Like the one, where you and Tai-chan travelled out of the village for the first time and got lost! We want to hear that story again!"

He chuckled. "Alright then, Ann-chan," he agreed and looked at the other kids. "Sit around in a circle and you all got something to drink, right?" They nodded in unison, as they formed a circle, with Naruto. "Let's begin from where we were asked by Nakamura-san, Tai-chan's father, to get him some stuff from the other village."

"Skip it and go to the fun stuff!" a boy complained.

"Ah, we would like to hear, too!" the group jumped in surprise, when they saw team Kakashi behind them, all ready to listen to Naruto's tale. "The more the merrier, right?" Kakashi said with glint in his eyes.

_That looks so evil,_ Naruto thought. "Well then, please join us, Kakashi-san." He did his best trying not to look terrified. "So, let's start from the fun stuff, as Shintaro-kun said."

_Nakamura-san saw us off at the gate, with a smile on his face and a, just to scare us, a knife, which he uses to cut the watermelons with, in his right hand, whilst he waved with his other. It was a year ago, so it was when we were 11, Tai-chan and I that is._

_We were naïve kids, so we didn't think that we would need a map, or anything. And by naïve, I mean that Tai-chan refused to use a map, saying that a real man go by instincts. That didn't go as well as he thought it would, because we ended up out in nowhere._

_We didn't know where we were, or how we even got there, so I suggested that we asked the next person, who came by, but…_

"_I'm not sacrificing my manliness, just so you can sleep in a warm bed, tonight!" he yelled at me. "If we don't find the village before sunset, then we'll camp outside!"_

_Of course, I had to follow what he said, or else he would cut me open._

Shintaro laughed. "Knowing the sadist, Nakamura Taiga-san, he would do it in a heartbeat!"

"That's why my life was in danger at the time," I muttered, with a small laugh.

_So, when the sunset came, I asked him once again, if we could just ask someone for directions, but once again…_

"_Do you wanna know why boys have a dick?" he asked. "It's because, if we don't do things our own way, it'll get cut off! That's the threat Kami-sama sent us. If we don't protect the women, boom it's off! If we don't fight for our village, boom it's off! If we ask for directions, instead of using our natural sense of direction, boom it's off!"_

"_You have no sense of direction!" I complained, but that didn't help. Rather, he became ghostly pale._

"_If I have no sense of direction," he started out, slowly, "then I'll have to ask people for direction, and then my manhood will get cut off… I have committed a sin, Kami-sama!"_

_That night, we still didn't ask anyone for directions, and we had to sleep in the forest, which was quite scary, because of all the noises there were, but what never got me to sleep was the trembling Tai-chan, who was sleeping by my side, whilst clutching… downstairs._

"Would you stop telling embarrassing stories about me in front of the people?!" a voice sounded and Naruto turned to it, showing Taiga with his crutches. "Seriously, that's evil!"

"I-I didn't think you were coming, today," Naruto stuttered.

Taiga began poking Naruto with one of his crutches. "Huh, you're not happy to see me? Am I being a nuisance? Should I go home now?" For every question, he poked Naruto, harder and harder. "Or maybe you just wanted to tell more embarrassing stories about me, what about writing a book about me, huh?"

"Tai-chan," Naruto whined, begging him to stop. "Stop poking me!"

"Oh, you want me to stop poking you now?" he questioned. "That's funny, I wanted to keep going, because it's so freaking hilarious to see your face like that. Or hey, let's tell stories about your stupid face, stupid boy! You little bastard."

The kids around them laughed. "We've heard the story before, Tai-chan," Ann said. "It's nothing new!"

An angry expression formed on his face. "So now I'm nothing new, huh? Have you overused the story, Naru-pyon, huh? You bastard, you always overuse stories, how I hate that smile on your face, I know you're about to laugh, stop laughing Naru-pyon! Why are you laughing?"

"It's just," Naruto said between his laughter, "it's just, the crutches are poking my ribs, which feels funny…"

He then stopped poking them. "Well, are you going with them to Konoha, or not?"

I blinked. "What?"

"Tai-chan," Kakashi sang, "over here for a moment, Sakura, Sasuke, you too."

And so the four of them moved away from Naruto, once again, and formed a circle while having their hands on their thighs, except for Taiga, who was standing with his crutches. "The plan wasn't working," Kakashi said, with a sigh.

"What?" Taiga questioned. "What kind of ninjas are you if you can't even persuade a normal village boy to go with you?"

"We tried everything we could, but we're ninjas," Sasuke began, "not child molesters. You try persuading him, he's as stubborn as a brick wall!"

"I've already suggested using my feminine charm, but someone was rude about it," Sakura grumbled. "Though, he is stubborn."

"Alright, team Kakashi plus Tai-chan," Kakashi exclaimed, "let's start plan B!"

"I can hear you!" Naruto yelled, annoyed.

"Target knows the plan," Taiga said, "retreat!" And off they ran, well, as fast as Taiga could.

Naruto sighed. _What do they want from me, seriously?_ He thought, with a second sigh leaving his mouth. _I'm not going to Konoha! Why would Tai-chan even help them with that plan?_

"Naruto-kun," a voice behind him said, and Naruto screamed in shock, "Stop screaming like a girl, you should be able to sense me." It was Kakashi.

"How did you get there?" Naruto questioned. "Y-You were in the opposite direction a second ago!"

"I'm a ninja," he said, bluntly. "What if you just travelled with us to Konoha for a while?"

"No," he said, sternly.

"You could take Tai-chan with you, if you feel safest like that."

"No," he repeated.

"We have lots of gorgeous females in Konoha," he tried. "Like the little Hyuga heir, she's your age! I heard she's a beauty."

"I don't want to," he said.

"You could make tons of friends!"

"I have enough friends here!"

"Tai-chan wants to go!"

"Then he goes alone!"

"Go with him!"

"I refuse!"

"You were so polite just a moment ago!"

Naruto gasped. "I'm sorry," he said, with regret as he bowed. "With no disrespect, but I would like to humbly reject your offer, I'm sorry."

Kakashi raised an eye-brow. "I don't think I could get over it," he said with a hand on his chest. "I'll forgive you if you go with us to Konoha."

Naruto was cornered. "B-But, Tai-chan is still in a cast! He can't go with us!"

"You think I'm a ninja for nothing?" he questioned. "I'll carry him, if it takes you to the village!"

He sighed, heavily. "Fine, I'll go with you," he said in defeat. "But don't you have mission to go on?!"

"You know how it's summer right now?" Kakashi questioned and Naruto nodded. "Well, we got a good laugh at who the culprit was."

"Who?"

"A magpie," he laughed. "Apparently, there are lots of magpies around the palace, and so they had gotten through security and stole lots of gold! You know how they love shiny objects, it also help that the gold are in tiny coins."

"A magpie?" Naruto questioned and Kakashi nodded. "A magpie?" He began laughing. "Whoa, this village wasted money on ninjas for a couple of magpies?! It would've been awesome if they were being controlled by someone to steal the gold instead, then we would've needed ninjas, but a magpie? I could've told them that!"

"So, we'll be leaving first thing in the morning!" Kakashi said with an eye-smile.

Naruto froze. "Morning? You leave that early?" he questioned.

Kakashi nodded. "Yep," he answered and waved behind him. "He said yes, they're coming with us!"

"Alright!" Tai-chan's loud voice yelled. "Naru-pyon's gonna be a ninja! I can't wait to see that!"

"What?" Naruto asked confused.

"Hm, how would Naruto-kun look with a headband?" Sakura wondered. "Sasuke-kun, could you show us?"

"Sure," he agreed and formed his hands into a sign while saying; **"transform!"**

"W-What?!" Naruto yelled as he saw himself, with the clothes he was wearing at the moment, but with a headband on his forehead. "What are you doing?!"

"Does it look good?" Sasuke asked with Naruto's voice.

"Whoa it would really suit you, Naruto-kun!" Sakura said.

"Whoa, Naru-pyon as a ninja looks cool!" Taiga praised. "But… the clothes… You need to chance your clothes; you have no fashion sense, Naru-pyon!"

"I'm poor, I can't afford it!" Naruto said, annoyed. "Change back, Sasuke-kun!"

Sasuke locked eyes with Naruto, and in a heartbeat, the two of them were having a staring contest. "Fine," Sasuke said as he gave up the staring match and changed back.

Taiga still had a grin plastered on his face. "We're going to have so much fun in Konoha! I've heard they have babes over there!"

_That's how they tricked him,_ Naruto realized. "That's dirty, Kakashi-san."

"Dirty might not be my middle name, but it is written in my heart," he said. "He was easier than you, you should be proud!"

"Why would I be proud of that…"

* * *

**So, please review, favorite, alert, some of those… If not, well, I guess it just wasn't your taste then…**


	3. Chapter 3

**So, thank you for the reviews, alerts, favorites from last time. It made me really happy. I just want to make one thing clear. This story does have humor in it, yes, but that doesn't mean it isn't serious at the same time. Just like the actual series, Naruto. It has humor but it's still serious, and like Full Metal Alchemist (I'm loving it), it's funny and serious at the same time, so that's what I'm aiming for. I hope I'll satisfy yours, and my own, expectations.**

**Summary:**

Naruto grew up in another village, a non-ninja village, where team Kakashi is coincidently having a mission.

* * *

**Chapter 3**

Naruto sighed, as Nakamaru Kota and Yuuki waved the group off. _I'll probably survive,_ Naruto thought, but deep inside his mind, he disagreed with himself. _I'll get killed, I just know it._

"Naru-pyon," Taiga called out, to the Naruto, who was holding their baggage, "if you don't hurry up, we'll leave you behind!"

_That's what I'm wishing,_ he thought as he sighed, once again. Taiga was walking with his crutches, so he wasn't able to carry any of the baggage, himself. The ninjas had to take care of their own baggage, but they did offer to help Naruto with some of it, but he refused, believing there would be a catch to it. _Like they'll have me join Konoha and work as a ninja._

"You'll love Konoha, Naruto-kun," Sakura said. "Don't worry too much."

"Ninjas have a good sense of direction, right?" Taiga asked, and the three ninjas nodded in unison. "Then, why are we headed north instead of south?"

They stopped in their track as they looked at Taiga. "I thought this was south," Sasuke muttered. "Weren't your sense of direction useless?"

Taiga's face formed in to an angry scowl. "That was a year ago, a year! I know the difference from south and north now!"

"This is east," Naruto muttered.

Kakashi looked at Naruto. _Didn't take him that long to figure out, his sense is good,_ he thought. "Oh my, we had to take that left awhile back..."

_Are they really ninjas?_ Naruto wondered. Wearing a pair of dark blue shorts that covered his knees and an open grey hoodie with a white shirt decorated with an orange spiral printed on the front. He sighed as he adjusted the bags weight on his shoulders.

"So Naru-pyon, what do you wanna do first in Konoha?" Taiga asked, excited. According to Naruto, Taiga got easily excited when they were going to an unknown place. In the village, if a new store opened, Taiga would be the first to jump on his leg and head to the store. "I want to meet the Hokage! How awesome would that be, huh? Telling everyone in the village that we met one of the most powerful ninjas in the world! Like, he's in the top five!"

Naruto laughed at his excited friend. "That would actually be a good story to tell the kids in the academy," he said. "At the same time, we might form a great friendship with Konoha, that way the safety of our village will be secured."

Sasuke looked back at the two boys, who were walking behind him and his team. "Who would want to attack such a small village?" he asked, not meaning to insult the village, but out of curiosity.

The two boys turned their heads to him, as Sasuke slowed down to walk with the two at Taiga's pace. "Oh, we've had plenty of attacks since I was born," Taiga said. "Like the time, one of the stores in the village detonated and two villagers lost their lives in the explosion. That was four years ago. When Naru-pyon came to the village, seven years ago, some people from a small ninja village came and stole some of the village's precious items from the past."

Naruto nodded at everything Taiga said. "It's true, they never got caught, so we never got it back," he said. "If we had ninjas in the village at that time, maybe they wouldn't have gotten away."

"Hm," Sasuke hummed, "that's true. A ninja would never let them get away."

"We would've chased them to their death," Kakashi said, in front of them. "Sasuke, here, hates to lose the most, right Sasuke-kun?"

Sasuke scowled at him, and then looked back at Taiga. "Are you okay with your foot?" he asked.

"Ah, Sasuke-kun is being considerate," Kakashi beamed. "How adorable!"

He ignored him, looking at Taiga for an answer, which just nodded and showed him, his invisible muscles. "These babies can carry the world!"

"Then you must be bigger, because your hands are all red," Naruto said, worried. "We should rest for your sake."

Taiga glared at him. "You just want a chance to escape!" he yelled.

"I couldn't even if I wanted!" Naruto yelled, back. "They said they'd hunt a runaway to death! How could I get away?!"

Taiga smirked. "Really?" he questioned, amused. "Ah, Kakashi-san, could you carry me? My hands are killing me!"

"I thought you were okay just a moment ago," Kakashi expected. "Didn't you just say that your babies could carry the world?"

"Literally babies," Naruto muttered, but Taiga's glare shut him up.

"I said that because I thought this stupid idiot would run away!" Taiga said, whining just a little. "Now carry me, my slave!"

_Slave?_ Kakashi thought, as he sighed and threw his baggage at Sasuke, who caught it easily. "Hop on, Tai-chan, I'll show you who's a good slave…"

Taiga smiled, widely and just on board on Kakashi's back. "Go, Kakashi-san!"

A glint appeared in Kakashi's one eye. "As you wish… my master."

"Ah," Naruto muttered, as Kakashi ran off with Taiga at the speed of light. "T-Tai-chan?"

Sakura sighed. "Kakashi-sensei hates being insulted," she explained. "Tai-chan was screwed when he said _slave_." Naruto blinked a few times, confused, but they kept on walking. This time in the right direction. Sakura looked at him. "Do you know how you came to the Corn village?"

Naruto looked at her, with a smile as he shook his head, no. "I have no idea," he said. "The doctor of the village said that I had amnesia. I don't remember anything from my past except my name. And I think I had a flashback, two days ago about a guy with the same red eyes as Sasuke-kun. He said I had to forget about… some village I don't remember the name of…"

Sasuke looked back at him. "The same eyes as me?" he questioned.

"There were two guys," Naruto muttered. "It seems like they helped, or something. When your eyes changed colors, I suddenly remembered one of them having those eyes, as he touched my forehead and told me to forget everything… One of them was called something with an S…"

"Shisui?" Sasuke questioned and Naruto brightened.

"Yeah!" he exclaimed. "That's the one!"

"He's dead," he said, bluntly. "He died five years ago."

Naruto's eyes widened. "H-Huh? How did that happen?"

"They say he killed himself."

***o*o*o***

At the gate of Konoha, Kakashi and Taiga had already arrived. "I wonder what's taking them so long," Kakashi said to, the now pale, Taiga.

Taiga glared up at him. "Uh, I don't know, maybe we left them on the other side of the world!" he yelled at him. "Naru-pyon has my crutches! I don't want the piggyback ride anymore!"

"Then we'll wait here," Kakashi said with an eye-smile. "It's not my fault they're so slow. Ah~ Kurenai-chan!"

A female, with shoulder-length black hair and red eyes looked at him as she paled. "Kakashi…" she muttered, unhappy. "What are you doing back already?"

"The way you said that is really insulting, did you know?" he questioned, but without receiving an answer. "This is Nakamura Taiga, a villager from the village we just visited. You can call him Tai-chan."

"Ah, from the Corn village," Kurenai said whilst smiling at the poor boy, who was seated on the ground. "Kakashi, why is a little pale boy with a broken leg, sitting on the ground like that? Did you do something that you should be punished for?"

Kakashi shook his head, no. "He wanted to arrive to the village faster, so we left my two students and his friend behind a little while back," he said. "Anyways, how is your team doing?"

"You brought another one with you?" she questioned. "Are you trying to find potential candidates for your little two-person team, or do you just want them to join the Chunin exam? That's cruel, Kakashi."

_Is this one of the babes, Kakashi-san told me about?_ Taiga wondered as he looked up at her. _She must be…_

"Hm," Kakashi hummed as he looked at Konoha's exit. "They should've been here by now…"

"You think they ran into trouble," Taiga asked.

"No, no," he laughed. "If they did, Sasuke and Sakura would've taken care of little Naru-pyon. They wouldn't even let a hair fall from his head."

"I'm not worried about Naru-pyon," he said, bluntly. "I'm worried about my stuff! If it gets stolen, I'll have that idiot's ass!"

Kurenai looked at the rude boy, and then back at Kakashi. "Kakashi, what's your real reason of taking the two to the village?"

***o*o*o***

"When are we there?" Naruto asked, edgily.

"I never took you as the impatient type, Naruto-kun," Sakura said with a laugh. "Are you still nervous?"

"What if I suddenly lose my stuff?!" he questioned. "No, better yet, what if I lose Tai-chan's stuff? He'll have my ass for it!"

"I'm sure he isn't that bad," she said, shrugging.

_You really don't know him, Sakura-san,_ Naruto thought. "He doesn't care if I get hurt, hell, he'll laugh at me if I get hurt!"

"Oh, you're misunderstanding him, Naruto-kun," she said, laughing at the worried Naruto.

"Maybe," Sasuke joined in, "but Taiga sounds like a sadist from what we've been told. Like the story from when they travelled together for the first time. He threatened with cutting him; I wouldn't be surprised if he killed him because of this."

"How reassuring…" Naruto muttered. "But, I'm friends with a couple of ninjas now; you could protect me, right?"

Sakura chuckled. "Of course we'll protect you!" she reassured him. "We don't let our friends get harmed, even if the cause is another friend!"

Naruto smiled, but it faltered when he heard his stomach rumble. He felt embarrassed, but luckily none of the two heard him. _Why is my stomach rumbling?_ He wondered. _I'm not even that hungry!_ He sighed as he put a hand on his stomach and patted it. _Maybe I am hungry, but I just don't know it yet. That could happen. Soon enough I'll feel hungry._

***o*o*o***

Kakashi smirked under the mask and he moved closer to her, to whisper in her ear. "I might've… just might! I might've found the forgotten boy."

* * *

**Done? Sorry it's so short; I just don't want to write long stories. Well, review, favorite, alert and I'll be happy and motivated to write even more!**


	4. Chapter 4

**Once again, thank you for reading my story, the reviews makes me happy and the favorites and alerts motivates me to keep on. Thank you for your support, I'll try my best with this chapter, too.**

**Summary:**

Naruto grew up in another village, a non-ninja village, where team Kakashi is coincidently having a mission.

* * *

**Chapter 4**

"Naru-pyon," Taiga called out, to the approaching team. "What took you guys so long? I've been waiting for my stuff and my crutches! Ah, I've meet Kurenai-san! She's a nice person, you should meet her too, Naru-pyon!"

Naruto smiled at him. "I'll eventually meet her, but right now I'm pretty tired," he replied. "Also, I'm hungry! My stomach kept on roaring, on our way here. I'm surprised neither of you heard it."

Sakura laughed, shortly. "Well then, let's go to the Hokage tower and make a report on our mission, then we can go eat," she said.

Taiga's face lit up. "Eh?!" he breathed, sounding excited. "We get to meet the Hokage?!"

"Maybe if he's there," Sasuke replied, as he gave him the crutches Naruto was carrying. "Where's sensei?"

Taiga shrugged. "He said he was going to take a look at the road of life. Whatever the hell that is," he answered.

The two ninjas sighed in unison, and Sakura even smacked her forehead. "That guy," she muttered. "He intends to let us report, whilst he relaxes!"

"What did you expect," Sasuke asked. "I'm used to it already, so let's go and report in. Now that I think about it, team eight should also be in today, so maybe we'll see them, too."

"In that case," Sakura started, "maybe Tai-chan and Naruto-kun could stay at one of their residence." She then turned to Taiga and Naruto to explain their current discussion. "Ah, team eight is a team that only consists of well-known clans. Hinata's clan, the Hyugas, is the most powerful clan in Konoha, so I wouldn't be surprised if their place was big enough to have two visitors. Kiba and Shino come from smaller clans than her, but with their dogs and bugs, you would probably be bothered."

"What about your places?" Taiga questioned.

"I live in a small apartment with my parents," Sakura answered. "Sasuke-kun lives alone in an even smaller apartment, but he used to have a big place."

"You would be better off staying at the Hyugas, that's for sure," Sasuke said. "If they would allow it, they're a strict clan."

Naruto helped Taiga stand and turned to the ninjas. "Well, I'm sure we can figure something out after we visit the Hokage. I'm sure Tai-chan is dying for it, right now."

"Yeah!" Taiga exclaimed. "Let's go, hurry up!"

And off he went, as fast as he could with those crutches. Naruto kept on thinking about something. He had heard that name before, hadn't he? Not just the name Hyuga, no, the name Hinata, too. All of these places were familiar to him. The gate, the buildings, the mountain, everything. But from where? Where had he seen all of these things before? This was his first visit to Konoha, the village hidden in the leaves.

*o*o*o*

The four of them now stood in front of the office of the fire shadow, the Hokage. Sasuke knocked on the door, not once, but twice and waited for an answer beyond the entrance. And an answer they got! They opened the door, revealing the Hokage and Sakura and Sasuke's teacher from the ninja academy. The four kids bowed at the sight with respect.

"Sorry, I can't that far with these crutches and this leg," Taiga apologized, fast and with a nervous voice.

The Hokage chuckled. "Don't worry about it," he said to the nervous little boy. "I see you two brought back some friends from that village, Sakura? Sasuke?"

They stood up straight. "We did," Sasuke replied. "The boy with the crutches is Nakamaru Taiga, the son of the man, who let us stay with them, and the blonde is Uzumaki Naruto…" He trailed off to look at the Hokage's expression, but he had nothing but a straight expression on. "Naruto, Taiga, could you please step out please."

The two and Sakura looked at him, confused. "Why?" Sakura asked.

"We have to talk to the Hokage in private," Sasuke answered and looked at Taiga and Naruto, who nodded and walked out of the office and closed the door behind them. He looked back at the Hokage with an even more serious expression than before. "We have reasons to believe that Naruto once lived here, am I right, Hokage-sama?"

Sarutobi Hiruzen, the third Hokage of Konoha, smiled at him. "That's right, Sasuke," he replied. "I just don't know here he has been all this time. So, he was hiding in the Corn village… I should've known that he would be in a small village like that. Was it Kakashi that recognized him?"

Sasuke shook his head, no. "He had seen my eyes before," he said. "Not exactly mine, but ones similar to mine. He had seen the eyes of Shisui."

"It was Shisui that took him from the village, huh?" Hiruzen wondered and looked up at the sky from his windows. "Then, Sasuke, do you feel obligated to protect him?"

Sasuke blinked, confused. "What?"

"Do you feel obligated to protect Naruto-kun," he asked, again. "Now that you know that it was an Uchiha that took him to another village, you must wonder why he did it and why Naruto-kun was that special, but not special enough for us to send a search team. Do you feel obligated to protect the one who was special enough for Shisui-kun to protect him?"

"Taiga said that Naruto was beaten, when they found him seven years ago," Sakura said, joining in on the conversation.

Umino Iruka was still there, but he wasn't forgotten. He also remembered the face of the forgotten boy, but decided to keep quiet and just listen to the discussion his two students and the leader of the village was holding.

The Hokage's smile turned into a frown. "I see," he said. "Then it's no wonder Shisui-kun would go that far to protect him. Do you also wonder, Sakura?"

She looked down with a grimace. "I don't really want to know, no. If he was beaten, but still protected then he must have a secret that could make us hate him, and I don't want to hate such a good person," she said, honestly.

Hiruzen looked at Sasuke. "What about you?"

He shook his head, no. "I don't wanna know, but I do feel obligated to protect him."

Once again, the frown turned into a smile. "That's a good answer from both of you," he said. "Now, do you know of a place they could stay, or should I arrange something?"

"We'll find it ourselves," Sakura said with a smile gracing her face. "So, that was all we have, now if you'll excuse us, Hokage-sama, we have to go and feed the two."

"You're excused."

*o*o*o*

Down the hall of the Hokage tower, team eight walking without their sensei, Kurenai. Just the three of them, Aburame Shino, Inuzuka Kiba and Hyuga Hinata. Kiba was grinning as if there was no tomorrow, Shino was walking with no expression, whilst little Hinata was looked down on the ground.

"I think we did great, today!" Kiba said, still grinning. "Our first C-rank, and it went smoothly!"

"Team seven is also on a C-rank mission, right now," Shino said. "We shouldn't be proud of catching some bandits in the woods. Why? Because they're going to catch someone who stole gold from the Corn village, we really shouldn't be that proud."

Hinata smiled. "We should be proud, Shino-kun," she said. "Our first C-rank mission is going to be a good memory in the future, just like our first D-rank is going to be."

"You're right about that, Hinata," he agreed. "Why? Because someday one of us is going to die, and then we'll remember back to this day and smile at all the memories we have of each other."

"You're too gloomy, Shino!" Kiba said, annoyed and with the grin faltering. "Ah, who's that?"

As they were nearing the Hokage's office, they saw two boys outside. Two that they have never seen before, and just when they were about to ask, the door opened and out came Sakura and Sasuke, the two of team seven.

"Ah, team eight," Sakura said as she locked eyes with the Hyuga. "How are you guys? Were your mission tough?"

Kiba grinned again as he shook his head, no. "Our mission was too easy, it felt like a D-rank!" he said. "But how come you're here now? Didn't you leave yesterday for your mission?"

Sasuke smirked. "Our mission felt like an E-rank," he answered. "It turned out that it was a bird that stole the gold. Ah, that reminds me, do any of you have a place where these two can stay?"

Team eight turned to the two from the Corn village. "Who are they?" Kiba asked, rudely.

"I'm Nakamaru Taiga," Taiga said. "This is Uzumaki Naruto. We're from the Corn village."

Kiba smiled at Taiga's name. "I'm Inuzuka Kiba, this is my dog Akamaru!" he said, laughing at the similarities. He then turned his head to Hinata, "this is Hyuga Hinata, and the other one is Aburame Shino. I don't think you can stay at my place, since our dogs wake up early and that would bother you…"

Hinata swallowed the lump in her throat, and opened her mouth to talk: "You can probably stay at my place," she said, quietly. "We often have guests, but in the moment it's empty. I'm sure we have a room, or two, you can use."

Naruto looked at her. She looked familiar. He then smiled, forgetting his thoughts, completely. "Thank you, I hope we won't be a bother," he said.

The two of team seven sighed. "Then we've taken care of that," Sakura said. "I'm pretty sure, Kakashi-sensei wants to train you Naruto-kun, so let's-"

"Train?" Naruto questioned and snapped his head in her direction. _I knew they wanted something!_

"Yeah," she said slowly, thinking of her next words. "You know, in the future you want to own a store of your own, so… Nah, he wants to train you."

"W-Why does he want to train me?"

Sasuke chuckled. "Did you honestly think you would leave this village again? Because you can leave anytime, Kakashi-sensei is just looking for potential candidates for our team, since we only have two rookies, and we can't take the Chunin exam if we don't have three."

Naruto blinked, confused. "I refuse," he said simply and looked at Taiga. "We're leaving tomorrow, early, so see what you want to see here, now."

Taiga glared at him. "Huh, you honestly think that I came here not knowing that they would do that?" he questioned. "I'm not letting you leave until you accept, besides..." he trailed off, looking at the floor, "don't you want to know where you're from?"

"I'm fine with where I am now!" Naruto yelled. "I'm not going to leave the Corn village!"

Kiba stepped over to him. "Naruto, right? Calm down, you might not even be potential enough to join team seven."

"Naruto-kun," Hinata said, "you shouldn't yell at Taiga-kun because of that, I'm sure he has his reasons for wanting this."

At that moment, Naruto locked eyes with Hinata…

"_I'm sorry, I'm sorry!"_ _a small petite girl cried out. "I'm so sorry!"_

"_Sorry won't cut it," a boy said, as he put his foot on her back, whilst she was down on all four. "You Hyuga's think you're so good, just because you're from a noble family!"_

_The two other boys around the girl agreed. "We should make her do something! Like humiliating herself!"_

"_Or we could let her buy us ice cream, that way she has paid for her sins!"_

"_We could always beat her up," the first boy said. "If we take her down, we can brag about how we took down a Hyuga!"_

"_Oi!" an unfamiliar voice called out, from behind them. And there he stood: a blonde boy with and crystal blue eyes. "You should feel ashamed, doing things like that to a girl! How low can you be?"_

"_That's the boy my mom warned me about," one of the boys said. "He's supposed to be really dangerous, or something…"_

"_Hmpf," the first one grumbled. "Let's just go, we got our apology."_

"_Oi," he called out. "Don't just walk away! What makes you say that she should apologize and not you?"_

"_Shut up, stupid orphan!" and with that, the boys ran off._

_The blonde boy walked towards the girl and helped her stand. "Are you alright?" he asked. She nodded, but still not smiling. He could see the visible tears in her eyes. She had been crying because of those boys bullying her._

"_W-Who are you?" she asked._

_He smiled. "Uzumaki Naruto!"_

"_Ah, H-Hyuga-"_

"_Hinata-sama!" another voice called out, before her hand was taken in by a grown-up Hyuga. "Hinata-sama, I've been looking for you. Let's go, now, come on, we don't want your father to wait for us."_

_Hinata looked back at Naruto, with a sad smile on her face, thinking that he would be frowning at the sight, but he didn't. Instead he was still smiling and waved at her: "Bye-bye," he said, before leaving the place without ever looking back._

Naruto released a breath he didn't even know that he was holding, whilst his eyes widened. His lips were quivering, and he was scared for some reason. What was that? Why did he suddenly see that? He couldn't take it anymore. He took a step back, and then another, before knowing what was going on, he ran screaming in shock.

"O-Oi!" Taiga called out. "Naru-! Naru-pyon! Seriously, what's with that guy?" He then proceeded to walk after him, as fast as he could with a heavy leg and stupid crutches. "Naru-pyon!"

* * *

**Um… This was pretty bad, I admit it, but I tried my best and honestly, I don't know where this story is going, I just know that I'm improvising until I figure it out. Thank you for reading, I appreciate it.**


	5. Chapter 5

**Thank you once again, your reviews were long this time, which is nice to read. Here is another chapter that I hope you'll like.**

**Summary**

Naruto grew up in another village, a non-ninja village, where team Kakashi is coincidently having a mission.

* * *

**Chapter 5**

Later that day, Naruto calmed down and meet up with Taiga again. They walked to the Hyuga residence where they met Hinata's father, Hyuga Hiashi, and her little sister, Hanabi. They got something to eat, they took a shower, and then they fell asleep.

The next day, Taiga still persuades him to become a ninja, but Naruto kept on refusing. If he was going to become a ninja, then he had to leave his precious village, and that's something he certainly didn't want to, not even for all the money in the world.

Though, Taiga didn't want to give up, not that easily. He wanted to see his best friend wearing a ninja headband. If Naruto wasn't curious as to where he was from, then Taiga was! He wanted to know where Naruto was from and why he came to their village. Yet, Naruto doesn't want to cooperate, that idiot.

They even watched the Hyugas morning practice. Naruto thought it was amazing, how such a soft form for martial arts could actually be so deadly. He didn't comment on anything, he just sat with Taiga admiring the view of the Gentle Fist.

However, another place in Konoha, the Hokage tower to be precise, stood one Hatake Kakashi and the Third Hokage, Sarutobi Hiruzen. These two respected ninjas were discussing something very important that they thought they would never talk about again. Exactly. They were talking about little Naruto, Uzumaki Naruto.

"It's pretty typical that you were the one to find him, Kakashi," the Third said. "But I'm grateful. I've always wondered what he grew up to be. He looks like his mother, don't you think so too, Kakashi?"

Kakashi gave him an eye-smile. "Yeah, he does," he answered with a soft tone. "I can't believe that I actually found him there of all places. I heard it was Shisui that brought him there, but do you really think that we would do something like that alone?"

Hiruzen shook his head, no. "I have a suspicion that there might've been two people," he said. "Otherwise, how would Naruto remember his name if someone didn't tell him? If he was beat-up, I doubt that Shisui-kun would just introduce himself like that, but if someone was speaking to him…"

"Uchiha Itachi, right?" Kakashi questioned.

"Why did you think of that name so suddenly?"

"Itachi and Shisui were best friends, they were like brothers," he answered. "If this has been a secret for this long, then Shisui must've been with someone who he trusted. The only one that comes to mind is Itachi. Wouldn't you agree?"

He nodded, yes. "I had the same suspicion, Kakashi. But we'll never know for sure."

"And I guess we couldn't just ask Itachi out of nowhere," Kakashi said, sighing. "However, when I get Naruto to agree on me training him, we might be able to retrieve his memories."

Hiruzen chuckled. "I heard him screaming yesterday," he told him, "I'm pretty sure we can find other ways to recover his memories."

Kakashi stared dead at him. "I'm not giving him to Ibiki, that's just torture. I want his memories to come back themselves, or maybe it is best if they were kept behind."

"There will come a time where he will have the urge to know where he is from," the Third said. "His body and mind will tell him that there is an empty spot in his heart, but his heart keeps telling him that it's fine. That he doesn't need to know, when he's already happy where he is. But when his mind reaches his heart, then he'll feel it. That's when his memory will recover."

"So you think it's a Jutsu that put him in that position?"

He nodded. "Of course I do," he said. "I think it's a Genjutsu that did it. One that made him, forget his past, and knowing Shisui, he would even put his own family in a Genjutsu to protect something. The only thing that can release it is Shisui-kun or Naruto. Since Shisui-kun is dad, then it's only Naruto."

"He had a desire to become a ninja when he was younger, right?"

"From what I remember he wanted to be Hokage to be exact," he answered. "But him wanting to become a ninja isn't what's going to trig his memory, you know."

"How do you know that, Hokage-sama?"

"Because there's more to Naruto than being a ninja."

*o*o*o*

"I've heard ninjas get the best girls," Taiga said with a smile, still trying to pursue Naruto. "Hinata-san is from a noble family, so she'll only be able to get married to a ninja, right?"

Naruto sighed. "I don't want to become a ninja," he said. "I admit, ninjas are honorable people, but I don't fit in, in such an environment. Things like sacrificing oneself to protect another; I'm too much of a coward to do that."

Taiga rose from his seat on the veranda of the Hyuga residence and walked towards the standing Uzumaki, with no support on his broken leg, as he put his hand on Naruto's shoulder. "You're right; you're a coward, well said! But you know what a coward wouldn't do? Save a cat! You saved that stupid, annoying, pest of a cat, right? Well then, you're not a coward!"

"Did you have to cuss the cat?" Naruto asked, with a chuckle.

"I swear," Taiga exclaimed, "if it hadn't been for that stupid cat, I would've been able to walk properly!"

"You shouldn't imitate me!"

"You shouldn't show off!"

"I didn't show off, I tried to save a cat, you said it yourself!"

"Showing off, saving a cat, what's the difference?!"

"I can't even put words on the difference…"

*o*o*o*

"Is Naruto-kun and Tai-chan in?" Sakura asked Hinata, at the Hyuga residence.

Hinata nodded in reply. "They're in the backyard, should I go get them, or do you want to come with?"

"I'll come with you," she said, as the two girls walked side by side.

"So, what are you going to do today?" Hinata asked.

"Well, we're still trying to get Naruto-kun to agree on the ninja thing," Sakura answered. "He's really stubborn, but I got a feeling that we're on the right track."

A couple of mummers interrupted the two girls' conversation, and Hinata slid the door open. "See! Then there's no difference, right?!" Taiga yelled.

"It means there's only that many reasons, why it's a difference!" Naruto countered.

"Oh, what's the difference?" Taiga said, shrugging.

Naruto sighed in frustration and looked back at the door, where the two girls were standing, staring at them. _When one side is up, another is down… _he thought, _time to put my other up again._ And thus, he smiled at them. "Hello, Sakura-san, Hinata-san."

"Come watch us practice, Naruto-kun!" Sakura said with a smile of her own. "I'm sure you would like it, it's really interesting for civilians."

Taiga frowned. "What about me?"

"You too, Tai-chan," she said, laughing.

*o*o*o*

"Sensei, Sasuke!" Sakura called out. "I brought them over!"

Kakashi looked at her, and gave her thumbs up. "Good job, Sakura," he said, "now, run ten laps around the training grounds! You too, Naruto-kun!"

Naruto looked at them, stunned. _They really do want me to train, but ten laps is too much for someone like me,_ he thought, but gave up with a sigh, when Taiga smiled at him. _Taiga smiling at me is a bad thing; I can only assume that he'll cut me up in my sleep… _And so he ran with Sakura. The laps were tough and Naruto was about to fall over a few times, but he made it without a break.

And as they finished the last lap, Kakashi gave him an eye-smile. "Good job!" he said to the exhausted boy, who was panting for air. "Now, do 100 sit-ups!"

He felt a vein popping on his forehead, and he turned to glare at the teacher. "Why do I have to train with you?! I didn't agree on becoming a ninja, and I won't ever agree to it!"

"Naru-pyon~" a voice called out, which turned to be Taiga with a sickly sweet tone. "Did you know, if you're pierced through the heart, you die in an instant?" Taiga was smiling. Not a smile that would look weird, it was actually a natural smile. But the whole façade was ruined by that little comment, which made Naruto as pale as a ghost. Hell, even a cloud was darker than him right now.

"100 sit-ups?" Naruto questioned, panting.

Kakashi smiled and nodded. "Then after that, I'll introduce you to your teachers!"

He looked up, confused. "Teachers?"

"We only have a month to train you before the Chunin exams!"

"I don't want to!"

*o*o*o*

In the end, he wasn't introduced to the teacher that day, but Kakashi vowed that he would meet them soon. Yet, Naruto did train a lot that day. He also learned a lot of practical stuff about ninjas. Like their life source, chakra, or the secrets behind being a good ninja. But remember? That was something he didn't want to do.

He sighed heavily as Taiga and he, were on their way to the Hyuga residence. "Why do you want me to become a ninja?" Naruto asked Taiga.

"Because we need you," he answered simply. "Our village has been attacked one too many times, if you became a ninja we wouldn't have to rely on an outsider. Besides, you might not be curious about where you're from, but I have a feeling that we'll find out here in Konoha. I really want to know, Naru-pyon."

Naruto looked at the ground, as they walked. "I was curious, too," he said. "As to whom my parents are and where I was born. I wanted to know my identity. I'm not even sure if my real name is Uzumaki Naruto, I just kind of thought that when I was found."

"And now?"

"I'm happy where I am," he replied. "I'm happy in the Corn village, where Nakamaru-san always treats me to watermelon and tea, and where Yoshida-sensei asks me to teach the students, because he's too stupid to know that many things at once, or where Ichikawa-san plays with the little kids, because she's always bored. The Corn village is the best place on earth, and I don't ever want to move from there."

Taiga smiled for real. Not his sadistic smile, no, but a real smile. "I guess the Corn village could use some help on the fun scale, but overall it's our home, we can't ever wish for it to be any other things. Do you remember the time where Ran-chan burped so loud a flock birds flew away?"

Naruto laughed. "I think that's because of you, when you climbed the tree last year, but ended up breaking the branch the birds were lying on."

"Then do you remember the time where Kiri-kun clogged the toilet?!"

"That was you after you ate those berries I told you not to eat!"

"Then what about the time where dad's booth broke, because of some kid kicking it lightly?!"

"You again!" Naruto accused. "Every stupid, funny moment in the village was caused by you!"

Taiga gasped, dramatically. "How dare you?!" he yelled, mockingly. "I'll cut you open!"

_I don't know that's a joke, or not…._ Naruto thought, sweat dropping. "You just can't handle the truth!"

"I can handle the truth just well!"

"You can't!"

"Can too!"

"Cannot!"

"Argh, Naru-pyon!" Taiga whined, but regained himself as he glared at the poor boy. "If you don't shut up about that, I'll not just cut you open, but I'll sell your organs on the black market, cut you in pieces and burry your body parts separately and where no one can find them!"

"I don't know you're joking, or not!"

The boys went silent, until they both broke out in grins, and thus the two boys smiled stupidly all the way to the Hyuga residence, where Hinata and someone else were waiting for their arrival, but why?

* * *

**Sorry to stop here, but I have plans to make it even more serious in the next chapter. So please be patient. This was fun to write, I really like writing these things, and I'm still trying on the Sadistic Taiga thing. Well, review, favorite, alert, whatever… Thank you for reading.**


	6. Chapter 6

**Fun fact, I actually came up with the title on a whim, when I posted the first chapter. When I finished it and was about to post it, I suddenly realized that I didn't have a title. And as if lightning struck me, I came up with Forgotten Boy, and the whole story…**

**Summary:**

Naruto grew up in another village, a non-ninja village, where team Kakashi is coincidentally having a mission.

* * *

**Chapter 6**

"Naru-pyon!" Taiga yelled, unable to control the tears that ran down his cheeks. "Na, Naru-pyon, become a ninja! Become a ninja and protect our village! We need a ninja in our village to protect us, we need someone! We can't defend ourselves no matter what!"

Naruto was also having trouble controlling his emotions, and he wanted to say something back to Taiga, but it didn't happen. Not when he could hear just how much his voice broke, cracked and split between sobs and growls. Never in his entire life had he seen such an emotional Taiga…

"Not for me, not for you," he continued, "but for Yuuki!"

*o*o*o*

_Rewinding a little…_

"Hey, should we buy something for the Hyugas?" Taiga asked when they passed the shopping district.

Naruto thought for a bit. "Sure, but we don't have a lot of money, so it'll have to be something small," he said.

"Like flowers?" he questioned. "There's a shop there, Yamanaka it's called."

Naruto looked to his right and smiled. "Sure," and off they went!

*o*o*o*

Inside the shop, the two boys were greeted by the smell of fresh flowers and tea. At the checkout stood a pale blonde cashier with pale blue eyes, and Taiga smiled at her, friendly. _Just as Kakashi-san said,_ Taiga thought, still smiling and creeping Naruto out, _Konoha girls are really hot!_

"Welcome," the girl said with a smile. _They must be tourists; I've never seen them before._

"Ah, Tai-chan, what about these," Naruto suggested as he looked closer to the name of the flower: _Dahlia. _"They would suit the Hyuga family, wouldn't they?"

"What does that have to do with the sun?" Taiga questioned. "Hyuga means _towards the sun_, that's a freaking purple flower."

"Eh, but their eyes looks more lavender than white, so…" he silenced himself as he sighed. "Then, should we find some sunflowers?"

"Sunflowers, really?" Taiga said, sighing. "That's the plainest flower in the world! We need something that says the Hyuga family is the best!"

The cashier decided to give a suggestion. "What about the iris?" she asked and the two boys turned to her. "The iris has many meanings; therefore it's very common to give it as a present to a friend, or a family member. In your case, I think the Hyuga's are your friends, or you want to express your gratitude for something, so the iris is perfect."

The two thought for a moment, before they turned their heads to the irises. Yeah, they were beautiful and it would really be a good gift for them. "We'll take a dozen!" Taiga said.

"How many is that?" Naruto questioned.

"Just a bouquet," he answered. "Ono-san says it all the time back in the Corn village."

The girl went to pick up a bunch of fresh irises and wrapped them up. She tapped on some of the tastes keys on the cash register. She looked a little at it, and then turned to them and smiled: "That'll be 3000 yen," she said, still smiling.

Their faces darkened. "3000," Naruto muttered, "How many 100 yen is that?"

"One, two," Taiga counted sticking a finger out for every count. "Enough to make us poor," was his final answer.

"We'll do it, Tai-chan!" Naruto exclaimed. "We can do it! This is for the Hyuga clan to receive our gratitude!"

Taiga looked just as determined, suddenly. "3000 yen, huh?" he said, with a bored tone. "Make it 4000, no 5000!"

"Don't raise the price!"

*o*o*o*

After a long discussion between the two Corn villagers, they finally decided to make it 3000 yen. Naruto kept on telling him, that when you buy things, you don't raise the price! It was quiet, and around evening time.

"Naru-pyon," Taiga called in a whiny tone, "my hands hurt, these crutches are killing me, and my foot feels like it weights a ton! Carry me!"

Naruto sighed. "I'm already carrying the flowers!" he retorted. "And besides, I'm already tired after the training today."

"How are you going to become a ninja, if you don't have any stamina?" Taiga asked. "I'm sure they held back for you!"

_Held back?! You have got to be kidding me,_ Naruto thought, bitterly. "I don't wanna be a ninja!"

"Naruto-kun," a voice called out in front of them, "Taiga-kun…"

"Ah, Hinata-san," Taiga said, cheerfully. _Yay, I was beginning to miss her!_

Hinata looked worried at them and beside her stood a woman with almost purple hair and a serious expression on her face. "This is Mitarashi Anko-sensei, she told me to take you two to the Hokage's office," Hinata said, with the same expression.

Taiga blinked, confused. "Did we do something?" he asked.

Anko stepped forward. "The request from Hokage-sama said, that I had to find you two at the Hyuga residence and take you to the Hokage tower," she said. "It's urgent."

_What could be so urgent that we had to hear it?_ Naruto thought. _Why does Hinata-san look so sad?_

*o*o*o*

The door to the Hokage's office knocked, and the Hokage told them politely to come in. In came the two Corn villagers and the two female ninjas. He frowned at the Corn villagers' worried faces, did Anko or Hinata already tell them something? No, they wouldn't.

"Naruto-kun, Taiga-kun," Hiruzen said, with a sad smile on his face. "Please remain calm, until I finish what I have to say-"

"What happened?" Naruto said, interrupting the Hokage. "Sending two ninjas to get us to the Hokage tower, something must have happened, but what?"

"Naruto-kun," Anko said, in a warning tone. "Don't interrupt Hokage-sama!"

Naruto felt startled at her loud voice, but was comforted when he felt someone tug the hem of his shirt. Taiga was trying to calm him down, and he appreciated it. Though, his best friend could be a sadist, he's really just a tsundere, who can't express his feelings that well. But Taiga didn't let go of his shirt, maybe he was also trying to calm himself down.

"It's okay, Anko," he said. "Now, remain calm, this is important. An hour ago, we received a message from the Corn village. They've been under attack, yet again-"

"What?!" the two boys yelled in unison, whilst Taiga tightened his grip on Naruto's shirt.

"No one died, but several were injured," Anko said, interrupting the two boys' outburst. "Two teachers at your academy are still in danger, and a student is in a coma, which they don't know if he'll survive or not."

The third Hokage nodded. "Only the best medics can save that boy now," he said sighing.

Naruto gulped, nervously. "Who is th-that boy?" he asked, whilst his heart was about to jump out of his chest. Sure, their village has been attacked before, but they were close to every villager. "And the teachers, which class were they teaching?"

"The attack started with your academy," the Hokage answered, "the two teachers, Yoshida-kun and Ryuuichi-kun are the two who're still in danger…"

_Yuuki's class!_ Taiga thought as once. "Which student?!"

"Nakamaru Yuuki."

*o*o*o*

"Are you alright, Naruto-kun?" Hinata asked, as they both stood in the backyard of the Hyuga compound, only with the night breeze and the grasshoppers to meet their ears other than their talking. "Taiga-kun is still crying, but you haven't showed any emotions since you heard it."

He didn't answer; he just gulped and kept a straight face. No matter what, he didn't want to cry. He wanted to show his support to Taiga, but every time he looked him in the face… _If only we had been home, _he thought.

"If only you didn't leave the Corn village, right?" she questioned, as if reading his thoughts. "Face it, Naruto-kun, even if you were there, the results would've been the same. The two teachers are still in danger, the possibility that they're dying is high, and Taiga-kun's little brother is in a deep coma. You're just a normal person, only a ninja could've taken them on."

All gentleness had faded from her voice, which only left the roughness of the truth. Naruto knew that she was right, that they couldn't have done anything, but they could still hope, right? "So you're basically saying that my village is weak?"

Hinata nodded without hesitation. "Taiga-kun is crying his heart out, because of the little brother that cannot be saved, but you're trying to be strong, yet you're slowly crumbling together. Your village is weak, yes, and that's the truth that you've realized, too."

"Then what can I do about, huh?!" he asked, loudly. Almost like a cry for help. "My village is weak, the villagers are helpless against villagers and I can't do anything? Nothing at all?"

"Nothing at all," she confirmed, and looked back when the sound of the door to the backyard opened and revealed Taiga.

"Nothing at all, huh?" Taiga questioned. "We can't do anything because we're weak; did you hear that, Naru-pyon?"

"Tai-chan," Naruto said and walked towards him. "Where are your crutches?"

Taiga shrugged. "That doesn't matter," he said, unable to control his emotions. "She just said that we can't do anything, Nary-pyon… and she's right! That's what I hate about our village! Sure, it's lovely, b-but we can't do anything by ourselves! We constantly rely on ninjas to help us in bad times, yet it's also ninjas who causes us bad times!"

"Tai-chan-"

"In good times and bad times, our village stands by each other, but we're unable to defend," he said, with his voice cracking a few times. "In the future, we'll also rely on ninjas to protect us; we'll rely on outsiders… But, but…"

Hinata just watched the dramatic scene that was being born in front of her and decided to be quiet. This was their village's affair and she shouldn't meddle further into it.

"Naru-pyon!" Taiga yelled, unable to control the tears that ran down his cheeks. "Na, Naru-pyon, become a ninja! Become a ninja and protect our village! We need a ninja in our village to protect us, we need someone! We can't defend ourselves no matter what!"

Naruto was also having trouble controlling his emotions, and he wanted to say something back to Taiga, but it didn't happen. Not when he could hear just how much his voice broke, cracked and split between sobs and growls. Never in his entire life had he seen such an emotional Taiga…

"Not for me, not for you," he continued, "but for Yuuki!"

Memories that he had never seen before, kept coming to him ever since the three ninjas came to their village. Memories that he wanted to know where came from. Yet, he was still attached to the village that brought him up, the village that raised him as if he was their own flesh and blood. When they found him, he was beaten up, and he wondered why.

"Yuu-chan, Yoshida-sensei, Ryuuichi-sensei," he muttered, clenching his hands into fists. "I'll… I'll… I'll become a ninja!"

* * *

**Now, please keep in mind that this is a Fanfiction, I do not necessarily need to follow the canon and the facts in the canon, and I just need to "unleash my imagination". If you want to criticize, then please come with some constructive criticism that will help me make my story better. Thank you for reading, reviewing, favoring, alerting or whatever you did… **

**Also, sorry for the wait, I'm in the middle of my exams.**


	7. Chapter 7

**Thank you all for reading the past chapters, I hope you'll continue with this one as well. By the way, I'm looking for a beta, so please PM me if you're willing.**

**Summary:**

Naruto grew up in another village, a non-ninja village, where team Kakashi is coincidently having a mission.

* * *

**Chapter 7**

In the Hokage office, the next day, stood three men. The Hokage, for one, Kakashi for two and the academy teacher, Iruka for three. Those three were discussing the Corn village's situation:

"Should we send some aid?" Iruka asked. "We could at least help them rebuild-"

"We'll have to discuss the enemy first," Kakashi interrupted. "We have heard from some of the Corn villagers saw some of the ninjas. They had a note on their forehead protector, so I'm assuming that they're from the new established village, hidden in the sound."

"Otogakure, huh?" the Third muttered. "Alright, Iruka, tell Anko to get a team ready and help the Corn village with rebuilding the damages made, for tomorrow. Kakashi, I guess you have to introduce Naruto-kun to his new teachers, right?"

Iruka excused himself and left the room, whilst Kakashi raised an eyebrow at the Hokage's comment and chuckled. "I guess he has been convinced, but shouldn't I let him rest for a while? The news about Yuuki-kun must be devastating for both him and Taiga," he said.

"You still have a month, Kakashi," Hiruzen reminded him. "I think you should introduce them to him as soon as possible. I'll let Anko's team be an escort as well for Taiga-kun; you can go and get them now."

"Shall do, Hokage-sama…"

*o*o*o*

"I'll become a medical ninja!" Naruto exclaimed. "That way, I can protect the village and heal them!" He grinned at the idea. "Then, I'll become the best medical ninja, and heal Yuu-chan!"

"Oi, he's getting carried away," Taiga called out, sighing. "Naru-pyon, this is serious. First of all, you need to train hard! You need to sacrifice your weak body to gain a strong one! Hinata-san, what does it mean to be a ninja?"

Hinata blinked in surprise. "U-um… Being a ninja means to endure!" she said. "Any pain you feel, any limit you have, you'll have to endure it! But becoming a ninja in a month, is going to be tough, I can only imagine what kind of teachers Kakashi-sensei will hire to train you-"

"Hinata-nee-chan," a voice sounded, and in came Hanabi, Hinata's younger sister, with a tray of tea. "I've brought you some tea."

"Thank you, Hanabi," Hinata said, kindly.

Taiga looked at the two, as Hanabi sat down beside her older sister. The two sisters seemed very close, he thought. "You don't look alike," he muttered, and they looked at him in wonder. "I'll… I'll go back home to support my little brother. I want him to wake up."

"He'll wake up," Naruto said, firmly. "It's Yuu-chan, of course he'll wake up."

"I look like our father," Hanabi said. "Hinata-nee-chan looks like our mother, who passed away after my birth. I'm guessing you, and your younger brother look alike, since you said we don't. I've heard that only the best doctor could save him now, why don't you try finding Tsunade-sama, the slug sage?"

"Hanabi!" Hinata said in a warning tone.

"Well, she's the best and she's a Konoha citizen," Hanabi continues, ignoring the warning. "But I guess you'll never find her."

"Where?" Naruto asked, loudly, startling the two sisters and his best friend. "Where can I find her?"

Taiga glared at him. "That's my question, stupid bastard," he said. "Where can _I_ find her?"

"Tsunade-sama isn't someone you can find just like that," Hinata said. "She doesn't want to come back to the village…"

_Oh, so she's Naru-pyon's mother,_ Taiga thought, sarcastically. He sighed. Just when he thought that someone could heal his little brother. _Tsunade-sama, huh? Maybe Naru-pyon meets her one day and convinces her to help Yuuki…_

"Naruto-kun," a voice called out from above, and when the four of them looked up, they spotted Kakashi. "Tai-chan, too, you'll both have to come to the Hokage's office, we have something to decide."

*o*o*o*

Back at the office, the three of them had just arrived and Hiruzen were staring out of the window. "So you have a choice," he said and turned around to look at them. "Do you want to stay in Konoha, or go home?"

Naruto bit his lip. "I'm… staying," he said, hesitantly. "Tai-chan is going home."

"But I'll be back when Naru-pyon is a ninja," Taiga said, instantly, but paused and looked down at the floor. "Or when Yuuki wakes up," he continued.

Hiruzen nodded. "Then, tomorrow, I'll send you with Anko's team, and I believe you have something you wanted to say too, right Kakashi?"

Kakashi stepped forward. "Naruto-kun, I think it's time for you to meet your teachers," he said, giving him an eye-smile.

Naruto blinked, twice. "How did you know that I said yes? He-hey, don't run away! Kakashi-san, just-" and he was gone. "Kakashi-san…" he sighed. _Where should I meet them?_

The third Hokage chuckled. "You can meet him at training ground seven," he said. "You can ask your way to the grounds. Now, Taiga-kun, Anko's team leaves tomorrow at noon, you can now go and rest your foot, or go with Naruto-kun."

Taiga let out a small smile, and looked at Naruto. "I'll go with Naru-pyon."

*o*o*o*

"Where the hell is training ground seven?" Naruto questioned, with a distressed sigh. "We've asked five people so far, and they don't know…"

Taiga sighed, too, but it was an annoyed sigh. "If you're smart enough to do a reduction, then you should be smart enough to realize that the only people you've asked," he started, putting pressure on the last word, "are civilian!"

"Shouldn't civilian know their city?"

"Ask a ninja," Taiga retorted, grinding his teeth. "Ask a ninja, now. Look, there's Kiba-kun and Akamaru-kun."

Naruto turned to where Taiga was pointing, and indeed, there stood Kiba and his dog. Kiba also seemed to notice them, because he waved and walked his way to them. "Hey, you're the Corn villagers, I heard about the incident, are you okay?" he asked.

They nodded. "Though, we're still upset about the fact that Yoshida-sensei and Ryuuichi-sensei are life-threatened," Naruto answered and looked at Taiga. "We still don't know if Yuu-chan will wake up, or not, but we're hoping for the best..."

"I see," Kiba said, frowning slightly. "I heard you agreed to become a ninja, are you going to meet your new teachers?"

"Yeah, but we don't know where training ground seven is," he admitted.

Kiba chuckled. "Then follow me, I'll get you there in no time."

*o*o*o*

"Sensei," Kiba said, with his mouth agape, "what are you doing here?"

"Kurenai-san," Taiga said, with a smile and excited, "I haven't seen you since I arrived to Konoha."

Naruto stood there, confused. In front of him were three strangers, plus Kakashi. There was a man with spiky hair, beard and a cigarette hanging from his mouth. Then there were another man, with a bowl cut hair, thick eyebrows and dressed in a green spandex. Then the last stranger, a beautiful woman with shoulder-length black hair and red eyes, for some reason she reminded him of Taiga's mother, Kazumi.

"Naruto-kun," Kakashi sang, turning the distracted child's attention to him, "I've made a plan over your training, already. Your first lesson is about chakra, a ninja's life source; you will have a week of training with Sarutobi Asuma."

The bearded man, waved at Naruto. "Hi," he said, smiling.

Kakashi coughed, to clear his throat. "The second week is about Taijutsu, with Maito Gai."

The man dressed in a green spandex saluted, with a great smile. "I am the youthful, Maito Gai!"

Naruto tried to smile, but failed to do so, when Kakashi again coughed, this time for attention. "The third week will be with me, as a Ninjutsu coach, you already know me, so I don't need to introduce myself. The fourth and last week before the Chunin exams, is with Yuuhi Kurenai and is about Genjutsu."

"Yuuhi Kurenai," the woman with black hair said. "Though, you don't need to master Genjutsu, you'll have to know the difference between reality and illusions. Do you understand your training plan?"

_What the hell is Genjutsu? Illusion,_ Naruto thought, but decided not to say out loud. "Yes, I understand…"

"Then, after you've seen Taiga-kun off, we'll meet here," Kakashi said. "Your first tutor is Asuma, with your chakra. We should talk after this, Asuma."

Asuma looked at Kakashi. "Eh, why?" he asked.

"Don't ask," he replied.

*o*o*o*

And so, after they left, Kakashi and Asuma met up at a bar in town. Maybe they would drink a little sake, maybe not; it was a hard decision considering they had to wake up early the next day. Ah~, a little drink wouldn't hurt them, they thought, so they ordered some sake.

"So, Kakashi," Asuma started, "what did you want to talk about, and why is it so important that we have to drink on it?"

Kakashi chuckled. "You're the one who suggested the bar," he retorted, but turned serious after. "It's about Naruto-kun…"

The two of them took a sip of their drink, before they continued. "What about him?" he asked. "Is there something wrong?"

"You know how he is the forgotten boy-"

"Ah~, the forgotten boy," Asuma muttered. "People call him that because the villagers don't remember him at all, and it's only a few of the high classed ninjas, who remember. I still wonder why the council didn't make us search for him…"

Kakashi nodded in agreement. "It also seems like he's still unaware of Kyuubi and his memories, Hokage-sama and I talked about how it might be Shisui's Genjutsu that has caused him the memory loss."

"Father and you?" he mumbled. "How do you know that it was Shisui?"

"Naruto-kun remembered an Uchiha whose name started with an S," he answered.

"How could he remember that? Isn't Shisui's Jutsu always bulletproof? Shouldn't it have been released by the time he died?"

The two of them thought about that for a moment. "His Jutsu might be, but Shisui is not. Before his death, he might've passed it on to another…"

Asuma blinked, confused. "What? He can pass it on? How in the world is that possible?"

"Hokage-sama and I talked about how Naruto-kun could probably break it himself, but I don't think that's the case. No matter how strong, Genjutsu can be broken with death, and I think your father thought of the same, but didn't want to tell me."

They took, yet another sip from their cups before they continued. "So, someone has taken over the Jutsu… who?"

"We think that there were two Uchiha's at the time Naruto-kun was taken away. One of them Shisui and another-"

"Itachi," Asuma finished.

"We think alike, Asuma," Kakashi said, with an eye-smile. "But now till what I wanted to talk about… About Naruto-kun's chakra-"

"I'll make sure he doesn't find out about Kyuubi."

"That's not the case," he retorted.

Asuma blinked, "then what is it?"

"It seems like, Naruto-kun unconsciously uses his chakra," he said. "In the Corn village, when we found out about how Tai-chan broke his leg, apparently he was fascinated by how Naruto-kun ran up on the surface of a tree, without using his hands."

Asuma's eyes widened. "What, how is that possible without proper training?"

Kakashi nodded. "That's what I thought, but I have a theory."

"What kind?"

"Naruto-kun might not have been trained, but that doesn't mean that his chakra is inactive. I think that in the spur of the moment, to save a cat, he developed a feeling on how to do the tree climbing exercise. I'm asking you today, because you're the one who is going to train him in chakra manipulation, Naruto-kun is a special kid, and I want to know if you can wake the talent, which is resting inside of him, up."

Asuma smirked, and laughed as he took another sip from his cup. "Don't underestimate me, Kakashi, I've taught chakra manipulation to a bunch of kids, and all of them have succeeded. I'm not just going to wake up his talent; I'm going to wake up his inner ninja."

* * *

**Ah, finally finished it… I want to say that there might not be any pairings in this story, but if you do want a pairing in the story, then please do not involve Naruto in it. Thank you for reading, favoring, alerting and reviewing, (if you're doing it), if you don't, then I guess it wasn't your taste. Ah, by the way, I'm trying to make this as logical as possible, so if there is something you don't understand, then just review a question, and I'll answer if it will come later in the story, or if I can answer it on the spot.**


	8. Chapter 8

**Thank you for reading, reviewing, favoring and alerting (if you're doing any of those things). Remember, you can still ask question, and I'll answer them, if I can.**

**Summary:**

Naruto grew up in another village, a non-ninja village, where team Kakashi is coincidently having a mission.

* * *

**Chapter 8**

_Week one_

Naruto's life was plain ordinary when he lived in the Corn village. No one expected anything from him, no body forced to do anything, yet he was one of the most dependable children in the Corn. Now, he's in Konoha, where Hatake Kakashi expects a lot of things out of him and where Haruno Sakura and Uchiha Sasuke forced their dependence on him.

With Sarutobi Asuma at training ground seven, he was trying to understand what exactly was being told. What was this thing about chakra? Was it really necessary for him to know? Spiritual energy… physical energy… They mix what the hell?

Naruto was sitting on the ground in front of Asuma, with his mouth agape and his eyes about to fall. It was six in the morning. He was not used to wake up that early, but to become a ninja, he had to. "Sensei," Naruto called out, with his hand raised, "can you explain that more simple?"

Asuma blinked, and then laughed. "Naruto-kun, you have two types of energies," Naruto nodded at it, "one spiritual and one physical. These two combined creates chakra, do you get it?" Asuma asked, and once again his student nodded. "By meditating you can strengthen your chakra, and by doing control exercise, you can strengthen your own power."

"Oh," he muttered, half-heartedly. _Alright, spiritual energy and physical energy creates chakra. But why do I have to know that to use it?_

"I've heard that you've used chakra before, to climb a tree?" Asuma questioned.

"I did?" Naruto blinked. _Ah, maybe it's from the time that Tai-chan broke his foot… I guess I felt some sort of strange feeling… Maybe that really was chakra, _he thought, feeling a slight headache forming. "Maybe I did…"

"Do you remember the feeling?"

He thought about it for a moment. "My legs were… stronger, I guess. It felt kind of weird when I ran up. It was like I was hanging from a rope, or my feet were stuck to the tree like a magnet."

"Like a magnet, good," Asuma said, as he threw a kunai at Naruto's feet, and he screamed.

"Are you trying to kill me?" he asked, panting in shock. "That was dangerous, sensei."

He laughed at the poor, shocked boy. "Use that kunai to mark how high you've ran up the tree, and then you'll try to surpass that. But first, we'll have to meditate to get a chakra reaction from you," he said, as he sat down on the floor and folded his legs in a meditation position. "Do as I, and focus on the energy inside of you."

Naruto did as he said, and sat down in the same position as his teacher. _Focus on the energy inside of me, huh? That should be easy enough;_ he thought and closed his eyes. _Energy, energy, energy… physical and spiritual combined gives chakra, the energy I should focus on._

Asuma didn't meditate with him, but watched the boy in action. _So far, I can't sense anything, _he thought. _I guess the natural instincts are only for when he really needs it. _He examined the boy, trying to find out where he was wrong. _He's tense, that's for sure, is he even trying to focus?_

Naruto's breath became irregular, and he soon broke out of the meditation, panting. "I failed," he muttered. "Asuma-sensei, where am I going wrong? This is too hard!" He looked down at the ground, trying to catch the breath he had lost from focusing too much at the same time.

"You're wrong in your focus," he answered, plain and simple. "Too much concentration won't do, you have to relax at the same time. Even though it's the same thing, you have to stop being so tense about it. Relax while focusing, and stop the tense atmosphere you were creating, do you get it?"

Naruto took a deep breath, before going into the same position as before, and then exhaled. "I get it, sensei, and I'm ready to go again." _Not too much focus,_ he took a deep breath, _relax, _he exhaled, _stop being so tense, _he took yet another deep breath, and then exhaled. _Focus on the spiritual and physical energy, which lies within you. Focus on chakra._

Asuma's eyes widened. _I sense a reaction, _he thought as he looked closer at the boy. _He took my advice and used it properly; I have to give it to Kakashi. This boy is something. _The energy from Naruto began being visible, the tense atmosphere was gone and he was finally doing it right. Naruto was taking control of his chakra, and Asuma couldn't be prouder of seeing such a development from a novice.

He let him meditate for an hour, or two, before Naruto broke it. The little boy broke into a grin, and laughed. "I did it, didn't I?"

Asuma nodded in respond, grinning just as wide as him. "I'll now explain the tree climbing exercise. To climb a tree without your hands, you need a small, yet precise, chakra amount to the bottom of your feet. It is said that the feet are the hardest place to gather chakra, so if you master this exercise, you'll be able to do any kind of Jutsu, hypothetically."

_Gather chakra to the feet, _Naruto wondered. "What happens with too much chakra?"

"You could break the tree," he answered.

"Too little?"

"You'll fall off instantly."

_So that's why there has to be a precise amount,_ he thought and looked at a tree. "I'll choose this tree, but I don't think that I can do the same thing like I did at home."

Asuma smiled. "I'm not expecting you to get it on your first try, I'm expecting you to train with all of your power and complete this exercise. Climb the tree until you're exhausted," he said and left the place with teleportation.

_I'll make it my goal to be able to teleport; _Naruto thought and began the exercise. "Not too much, not too little, it has to be perfect." And so he tried as he formed his hands into the sign he was taught, the ram sign, and closed his eyes. He began thinking back to the time in Corn, and then snapped his eyes open, as he headed for the tree, straight on.

*o*o*o*

"He's working hard," a girl said, with a smile on her lips. "Don't you think so too, Sasuke-kun?"

"He's talented to be able to get that far already," the boy answered. "It has been five days; he only has two more days until his chakra training ends. Maybe you should give him the same advice like you gave me, Sakura."

"I think I want to see how far he can get without it," she said, chuckling slightly. "But what do you think of his chakra? It seems pretty powerful to me."

"There's a good amount, the most I've seen between us rookies. We'll have to watch out, or he'll surpass us in no time," Sasuke replied. "Do you think that he'll be able to complete the exercise?"

Sakura nodded. "You said he had talent, Sasuke-kun, he'll get far with just talent, but he'll need to understand the art in being a ninja, before he can even think of exceed us. To be honest, I don't think he can get that far, in just a month."

"We'll be surprised by the results, no matter what," he said. "Ah, he fainted…" They sighed in unison, as they jumped over to him. "Let's get him to the Hyuga residence." They both lifted a shoulder each, and dragged him with them.

"He really needs some new clothes; these are getting worn out," she said, looking at all the holes and scrapes in his outfit. "He's kind of heavy, too. I wouldn't expect that from someone who looks so thin, maybe he's getting stronger."

Sasuke nodded. "Indeed, he's getting heavier; he's putting on some muscles after he has trained for five days, straight. I really can't wait to get a fourth member…"

"Mm, he's going to be our fourth," Sakura said, grinning. "I guess we'll have to trust Kakashi-sensei's judgment and believe that Naruto-kun can become a full-fledged ninja in a month. Really, this little guy is probably going to get stronger than me, how I hate that feeling."

"The stronger he gets, the less worried I'll get," Sasuke said. "But I'll still protect him."

"_To abandon your duty is not courageous,_" Sakura started out. "_Below the courageous, there is nothing._"

"The words of the fourth, huh?" he muttered in respond. "I guess you can say that it's my duty to protect him."

"It's our duty, Sasuke-kun," she corrected. "It's the duty that we've taking on as a team. We'll have each other's back and we'll never betray one another. It's not a job, Sasuke-kun; it's the meaning behind teamwork."

*o*o*o*

It was day six now, and Naruto was exhausted again, whilst laying on the grass. _Damn it, this is the second to last day, and I still don't know how to complete this exercise,_ he thought. _Why haven't I seen any ninjas, other than the Hyuga clan?! Have they all abandoned me already?!_

"Naruto-kun," a voice called out, and Naruto turned his attention to the voice. "Focus on the tree, nothing else but the tree."

"Sasuke-kun," Naruto muttered, getting up on his two legs. "I have to focus on the tree?"

"If you only see the tree, you'll find out how to do it," he said. "Erase the whole area and watch only the tree, whilst any other place is in the darkness. You wanna get to the top, so watch the tree, and you'll be able to do it."

He took a deep breath, and exhaled again. He turned to look at the tree, and then focused on his chakra to his feet. _There was too little chakra before, and too much chakra before that, if I can find the middle of those two, then I can do it,_ he thought and looked at the tree. Only the tree.

*o*o*o*

"So you decided to give him some advice," a boy said, walking beside Sasuke, "Sakura." A poof sounded, and there walked Sakura, indeed. "Why did you have to show up as me?"

"You wouldn't listen to my advice at first," she answered. "Every guy has a pride of steel, so I transformed into you, instead."

"You think he'll be able to it now?"

Sakura smiled. "He was already close without the advice, now he'll complete-"

"I did it!" a loud voice shouted, and the two looked back at the training ground, where Naruto was standing on top of the tree. "Finally! Ah, thank you, Sasuke-kun!"

"it," she finished. "He's really loud."

"Now he'll think that I'm actually kind," he muttered. "We should be proud of him, but I'm sure that he'll die when the Taijutsu training starts."

"Let's hope he doesn't, we could really use him in the Chunin exams."

"He's still laughing," Sasuke said. "Maybe we should tell him to do it a couple of more times, just so he could get the feeling to stay there."

"He'll manage."

*o*o*o*

_Week two_

"Don't worry, Naruto-kun," a loud, confident and manly voice said. "I'll get your youth to kick in with the Taijutsu you're about to learn!"

Naruto tried to smile, but failed horribly and looked at Kakashi, who was standing beside him. "Mah, Gai, maybe you shouldn't overdo it. We want him alive," he said, only managing to tense Naruto up. "Remember, Gai, he's a beginner, his stamina is low and his muscles are weak. Just teach him the basics, and if he masters them, then go to your ultimate Taijutsu training!"

Naruto blinked a couple of times. _Ultimate Taijutsu training? Do I really wanna do them? And what did he mean by, wanting me alive? Am I going to die? Oh no, I knew this was a mistake!_

* * *

**And freeze… I don't know why I always thank you, but thank you… again. I really like writing this story, and I want to make it fun for you to read, so just tell me what I can improve, and I'll try my best. Until next time, WOSH.**


	9. Chapter 9

**It was kind of sad, when I updated the last time, but I hope it gets better this time. Thank you for reading up until now.**

**Summary:**

Naruto grew up in another village, a non-ninja village, where team Kakashi is coincidently having a mission.

* * *

**Chapter 9**

Naruto was panting. It was hard to breathe in that heat. Quite funny actually, when Naruto was on the ground, he didn't feel like this. This so-called _warm-up_ was killing him. Gai was weird, he thought, he couldn't survive this, could he? He understood the meaning of warm-up, but…

What the hell was he doing on top of Konoha's walls?

*o*o*o*

_Rewinding a little…_

"Naruto-kun," Gai started, with a loud voice and gave him a thumps up, "do not worry about your physical conditions! In this week, we're going to have you build up those muscles that are waiting for your attention; we're going to make sure that _youth's _flame will be visible on your skin! To youth!"

Naruto was flabbergasted. _W-Weirdo, what does he mean by youth's flame? He's trying to kill me, he's a part of Kakashi-san's plan on killing me, _he thought paranoid. "Sensei, what kind of exercises are we going to do?"

Gai chuckled. "I'm glad you asked, Naruto-kun," he said, grinning as his teeth shined and the student instantly paled. "Of course, I'll have to obey my life-long youthful rival, Kakashi, so I'll start with the basics! As a warm-up, five laps around Konoha!"

Naruto had a good reason to be scared. _Five laps around the whole village? Ten lap around the training grounds, was enough to take all my energy, _he thought. "Sensei, what do you mean five laps around Konoha?"

"Don't worry about your stamina, Naruto-kun!"

_I'm worried about my life,_ he thought.

"I'll give you a special present, a present that only a few people have obtained," Gai continued. "Most ninjas would make fun of it, but it has made many people stronger… It is the great, green spandex! My most precious student is wearing one, and I want you to wear one too…"

"_No matter what, Naruto-kun," Kakashi had said to him, before he left him alone with Gai. "I repeat, no matter what, I'll refuse to have you on my team if you wear one of those, hideous spandex, do you understand?"_

_Naruto looked at him, confused. Although, it sounded tempting._

"_I won't just refuse to have you on my team, I will personally make sure that you won't be able to walk around in that clothes, you do not want to know how I'll do that," he continued, with a slight glint in his one eye._

Clouds were pretty, but Naruto's skin color would put even the snow to shame. _That student, he's not human is he? He's a monster, he has to be, I shouldn't take it, hurry, change the topic,_ he thought. "Sensei, you do know that I can't run around a whole village, right?"

Gai broke into a huge laughter. "There's no such thing as impossible in your youth! You can do whatever you want, as long as you believe in it!"

_I don't want to run five laps around a village,_ Naruto thought, bitterly. _I don't even believe in it…_

"My student runs 20 laps a day, so I'm actually going easy on you," the teacher said, still grinning. "Not to mention, he does 5000 pinky finger pushups, with each pinky, 1000 one-legged sit-ups on each leg, runs around town on his hands, kicks a tree at least 4000 times, with each leg and punches a tree 4000 times with each hand. There is no such thing as impossible for my Lee-kun! He's only a year older than you, too."

_Not every ninja is like this, are they?_ Naruto sighed, and looked around the training grounds. _Sasuke-kun won't help me this time, would he?_ _Ah, I wonder what Tai-chan is doing… No, they can't possibly have fun, when Yuu-chan is in a coma! I just have to bear with it._

"Do you still think that merely five laps are impossible?" Gai asked. "I don't think so! Let's run those laps like it's our last!"

_It might be my last…_

*o*o*o*

Naruto was panting. It was hard to breathe in that heat. Quite funny actually, when Naruto was on the ground, he didn't feel like this. This so-called _warm-up_ was killing him. Gai was weird, he thought, he couldn't survive this, could he? He understood the meaning of warm-up, but…

What the hell was he doing on top of Konoha's walls?

Or right, he was _warming up_, as Gai called it. It wasn't even half of the first lap, and he was exhausted! "S-Sensei, I can't go on…" he said, collapsing.

Gai stopped up. _I was even going in his slow pace, but maybe this exercise is a little too tough for him,_ he thought and walked over to the collapsed boy. "There, there, Naruto-kun, maybe we should just do some kicking practice, and then we'll do some punching practice and call it a day."

Naruto looked up with hopeful eyes. "Really, you're not joking, right sensei?"

He let out a laughter, which echoed around the walls. "I never joke, young student, I should've known better than making you, a novice, do this kind of exercise," he said. _Although, I had expected him to, be more eager to do this, after he excelled in the chakra workout._

He boy smiled. "Although this was tough, it's kind of fun to see Konoha from here," he said looking at the scenery, which was the village hidden in the leaves. "I wish we had such a spot back at home. This is really refreshing." Even though he was still panting and about to faint from lack of oxygen, Naruto held his head high and inhaled the fresh air, above the village. _Really, I bet my village would be even more beautiful than this._

*o*o*o*

"It's the third day of his Taijutsu training, right?" Sakura asked, the boy walking beside her, Sasuke.

He nodded in respond, and looked at Konoha walls. "I heard that Gai-sensei almost made him run five laps around Konoha," he said. "Tough for him, but he'll need it. We can't go protecting him during the Chunin exams."

Sakura looked at him. "It's not even for sure that we'll get to take part in the exams, Naruto-kun has to go through one himself. We can't just let in an academy student leveled ninja, right? We'll die if that was to happen."

"Well, he probably won't be strong enough to defeat one of this year's rookies, but his growth will amaze us. That's for sure."

"Yeah, yeah, his growth will be amazing, that's the only thing you've talked about so far," she said and sighed.

"Just agree."

"I didn't say I didn't," Sakura said and looked forward. "Ah, Ino-pig!"

*o*o*o*

"That's a good form, Naruto-kun!" Gai said, as he watched the boy throwing the kunais. Although, Gai was to only teach him Taijutsu, the boy still needed Kenjutsu. He watched him for the next few throws, and then stopped him. "Alright, six out of ten hits a vital point on the mark. That's excellent improvement. Your muscles have grown as well, your punching and kicking have improved and your stamina has gone up. With this sort of development, you should be able to finish all the basics in the next three days, and then we'll do something fun on the last day!"

"Yes, sensei!" Naruto said, happily. He was tired, yes, his legs were sore and he was about to collapse, but for some reason… it was fun. "Next is the Taijutsu training, where I'm going to combine it with chakra, right?"

"Exactly, look forward to see the great power you will release, once you master it!"

"I will!" he laughed. _Ah, I can't get too excited over this, but Taijutsu is so fun! Maybe I should become a Taijutsu master, like Gai-sensei! Hm, but I'll have to surpass this Lee-san, right? Oi, I'm getting too excited; I should get my priorities straight…_

"Yosh, that's how it should be! You'll get a five minutes break, to get hydrated, and then we'll train like never before, alright?"

"Yes, sensei!"

*o*o*o*

On the seventh day, they appeared to be running, but it was much deeper than just that. Jumping from building to building, whilst throwing with shuriken and kunais, aiming for the targets sat up around the village. Yes, this exercise was the last one.

Although his legs were sore and tired, he kept on running. He was panting hard and sweating, and the weather was hot. He looked to his left and saw a target, whilst he was jumping from one building to another. He threw a star and hit the head of the target. He ran along the roof of the building he had just landed on and looked all over the place for another target.

"_Listen now, Naruto-kun," Gai started, "in this village, I have put up 10 targets for you to hit. You have to get used to jumping whilst running and this is the best way to do it. When you jump, you should not hesitate, and if you miss your landing, use your chakra to save yourself. You'll only have ten shuriken and ten kunais, so if you miss a target, you're as good as dead."_

At first he was nervous about jumping that far, but when he put chakra into it, he could make it. Five targets had passed, and he was still searching for the five others. _Alright, up until now the targets have been 20 meters apart, but I've passed 80 already, so I've probably made the wrong turn…_

He turned around and ran about fifty meters, and then jumped to another building. There, indeed, was a target. He threw a shuriken, but missed…. _Crap, I'm dead, but I've gotta hit the other targets before this ends._

With those thoughts, he ran further away from the missed target and found yet another one. This time he threw a kunai, and yet again, he missed. He winced, slightly, but moved on without hesitation as soon as he saw another target.

_I don't necessarily have to throw them, right?_ He looked at the target and closed in on it and pulled out a kunai, as he jumped to the building it was standing on. He landed with his feet on the target's shoulders and stabbed the head with the kunai. _Eight found, two missed, six hits, the next one is about 60 meters from here._

He jumped from the building to the next and ran along the roof. He then jumped to the next building and from there, to the next. _Ten meters, between me and the target, I can hit it. _He pulled out a shuriken, and as he jumped to the next building, in mid-air, he threw the star hitting a vital point, the heart. _Alright, next one is the last… Where is it?_

He looked around, still running. He was still panting, exhausted, but he kept going until he found the last target. _60 meters, on top of the Hokage tower,_ he thought and kept running in that exact direction. He put his hand in his hip pouch and took out the last weapon he had. A shuriken.

Forgetting all about aiming, he threw the shuriken and hit the target in the heart. He stopped up. The little game was over, and he smiled. Out of nowhere came Gai, and put a hand on his shoulder. "You did great, Naruto-kun," he said, looking down on the panting boy. "Eight out of ten was hit; seven out of eight was hit in a vital point. You can only be proud at the result."

Naruto nodded, trying to control his breathing. "What now?" he asked.

Gai laughed, loudly and shook his head. "Now, it's over. You've finished your Taijutsu and Kenjutsu exercise," he answered. "You should be proud of yourself; a normal civilian wouldn't even survive a day with me. Remember to aim for the walls, alright?"

He looked at him, questioningly. "The walls?"

"Aim for the stamina, and run those laps around the village!"

Naruto's face brightened, slightly. "Yes, sensei."

*o*o*o*

_Week three_

The memorial stone, which contained names of the ninjas killed in action. In front of that stone, were flowers and a pair of orange goggles lying, showing that someone had recently visited. That was of course, Kakashi, who was standing in front of said stone.

Naruto had just arrived, but as he looked at his new teacher, he didn't even see him move a muscle. "Kakashi-san-"

"Sensei," Kakashi corrected, before Naruto could say anything else. "It's sensei from now on, Naruto-kun."

He just nodded and looked at the stone Kakashi was standing in front of. "Kakashi-sensei, what is this?" he asked.

Kakashi gave him a small smile. "This is the memorial stone, especially for certain heroes," he replied, still bearing the same smile, though invisible under his mask. "Heroes of this village, who has been killed in action, or KIA."

"Killed in action," Naruto repeated in a murmur. "Sensei, could it be that the fourth's name is also on it?"

He nodded in reply. "Why the sudden interest in the fourth, Naruto-kun?"

"I'm kind of curios about him. About the story of him defeating the fox, I want to know how he did it, but I don't believe in the legends. A legend always gets changed in some way," he answered. "Sensei, do you know the original story?"

"It's pretty ironic, actually…"

"What is?"

"The story of Kyuubi's defeat is also the story of the forgotten."

* * *

**So, I'm still looking for that Beta, so just PM me, or write it in a review, if you're willing. Thank you for, reviewing, alerting, favoring and so on. If you haven't done it, and you like my story, then please do… It motivates me.**


	10. Chapter 10

**Beta is still wanted, so please don't comment on my poor grammar.**

**Summary:**

Naruto grew up in another village, a non-ninja village, where team Kakashi is coincidently having a mission.

* * *

**Chapter 10**

"A story of the forgotten?" Naruto repeated. "What do you mean, Kakashi-sensei?"

Once again, Kakashi looked at him, with the same smile under his mask. _I might know the true story, but this boy shouldn't know,_ he thought. "It was an astonishing way, the fourth defeated Kyuubi, actually. A way that none of us would ever be able to do."

"What happened?" he asked. "What did he do?"

"He used a forbidden sealing technique, which took his life," Kakashi answered. "But the reason that this is the story of the forgotten isn't because of the fourth, but because of Kushina-san. The fourth was only able to seal half of the beast inside of him, using the _Death Demon Consuming Seal_. It was a sealing technique developed by the seal masters of the Uzumaki clan. That technique could seal even the most powerful being…"

_Uzumaki clan, _Naruto thought, as he remembered the words Sasuke had told him, when they first met. "Then, who is Kushina-san?"

"Patience," Kakashi said, chuckling half-heartedly. "But Minato-sensei was almost out of chakra when he decided to use that, so he, much to his own regret, only sealed half of the beast's chakra away. Only half of it was already a burden to his body, so he couldn't move properly. That's where the ever so beautiful, Kushina-san came in."

Naruto paid extra attention at that part. He felt like there was something he needed to know about the mentioned woman. Something drew him to her.

"With her powerful chakra chains, she pulled the other half of the beast inside of herself and died alongside her husband, the fourth."

Naruto looked lost. _What, she was his wife? But how could she have pulled the beast inside of her? How come she also died?_

"The burden was too powerful for her as well, Naruto-kun," he said, when he noticed his troubled expression. _Of course, she died, when she was pierced through her stomach by the fox's claw, but I can't tell him the true story. Though, there's one true thing in this story…_

"Who was she?" he asked. "I know, s-she was his wife and such, but how come she could pull the beast inside of her with only chakra?"

"She was an Uzumaki as well," was the answer Naruto received. "Remember that Uzumaki's were seal masters. That's the sort of chakra chains it was, to seal things completely. But, although she was a hero like the fourth, she was forgotten. Not many people in this village remember her; rather they only remember her husband. It's really ironic how such a person could be forgotten. Just like every other ninja, who has died, one gets the glory, whilst another is forgotten."

_Why was she forgotten?_ Naruto thought about that, over and over again. "Then, sensei, didn't they have any children? Someone who would remember them forever? Like you, you called the fourth _sensei_, were you his student, or something? How come you remember them?

Kakashi bit the inside of his cheeks, as he looked up at the sky. "I was 15 at the time, I remember them very well. Especially since the fourth, as my teacher, was also a lot like my own father. Seeing him on this stone, along with my other comrades… it breaks me."

That day, the two of them didn't get much training done. Naruto seemed a little depressed after hearing the story, so he sent him back to the Hyuga residence with a scroll of the basics, taught in the academy.

*o*o*o*

In the Hyuga's home, Naruto looked over the scroll. _Hm, first of all, it's the transformation technique. A technique that'll allow me to change my appearance, I think this is the one I saw Sasuke-kun use back at home,_ he thought as Hinata came in with some tea. He looked at her and rose from his seat. "Sorry for bothering you, Hinata-san."

She shook her head, no. "It's nothing, Naruto-kun," she replied. "You're in your Ninjutsu week, right? I'm guessing you're being taught the basics."

He nodded, yes. "I'm starting with the transformation technique," he said. "I should release all of my chakra points at the same time, and think of an image to transform into, right?"

"Exactly, try transforming into me," she said. "If you have a clear image at first, it'll help you a lot. I used to transform into one of our clan members as training, and I succeeded fast, actually."

"I won't promise that it'll be perfect."

"It's your first try; of course it won't be perfect. Though, I've heard quite a lot about your chakra training, it went splendid, as well as your Taijutsu training."

Naruto smiled. "It was tough, but I survived, and somehow… it was actually really fun." _Then I met Kakashi-sensei, and heard such a depressing story…_

"I heard from Neji-nii-san that Gai-sensei is a strict trainer, but he has a carefree personality."

"_Neji-nii-san_, siblings?"

"Cousins."

"Oh, well…" he coughed to clear his throat and looked at the scroll he was given. "Dog, boar and ram, those are hand signs, right?"

Hinata nodded. "Do you know how to do them?"

"Yeah, Asuma-sensei taught me."

"Then try," was her final words, before Naruto began forming the three signs.

_Dog boar, ram,_ he thought, focusing on his chakra in his body. _Hinata-san, transform into, Hinata-san… _He opened his eyes, which he had closed without knowing it, and looked at Hinata. "Did it work?"

She shook her head. "Try again," she said. "I did it until I was drained for chakra."

_Amazing, I would never do that, _he thought as he tried yet again. _Work, work, work, transform into Hinata-san!_ This time he actually felt something, like his head was getting hotter with the temperature. "Did it work?" he asked and looked at Hinata, who was just staring at him.

"You…" she tried saying, but suddenly started laughing. She tried to calm herself down, and she finally succeeded, but she was still on the verge of laughing. "At the very least, you got the hair correct…"

Indeed he did. The short dark hair was on top of his head, but the rest of the body, as well as the face, remained unchanged. He groaned. "This is tough, I feel like dying!"

"You've only tried twice."

*o*o*o*

And so, the days went on. Naruto kept on practicing, training and improving his technique, little by little. He learned the transformation Jutsu in a short amount of time, after receiving advice from the people who was going to be his comrades. On the third and fourth day, he learned the substitution Jutsu.

Same day he learned the substitution, he began practicing the clone Jutsu. This time, Kakashi actually watched over him whilst he trained. Naruto kept trying the technique, but without any results. "Try doing it with less chakra," Kakashi suggested and the student nodded.

And so he tried, but without any luck at all. He was panting, heavily, and he was feeling slightly nauseous. It might be because of all the training he has been doing this month. "Sensei, please excuse me for a bit…" he muttered as he ran behind the bush at training ground seven.

Kakashi winced slightly, when he heard the boy barf, loudly. _Maybe it's too tough for him,_ he thought, but decided to ignore his thoughts, when Naruto came back looking all pale. "Naruto-kun, would you like a break?" he asked.

Naruto shook his head, wildly, making him even sicker. "I won't take a break before I master this stupid Jutsu!" he exclaimed, loudly, as he formed the signs necessary for the Jutsu. _Ram, snake, tiger, create a freaking clone! I don't care what it looks like, just create something!_

*o*o*o*

"Kakashi-sensei?" Hinata questioned, as she saw him at the porch with Naruto on his back, fainted. "Did he overdo it?"

Kakashi nodded in respond. "I told him to take a break, but he didn't want to until he had actually mastered it," he said. "Take care of him for now, when he wakes up you should get him a lot of rice. Maybe you could give him some advice on the clone Jutsu. It didn't seem like he was going to master it anytime soon…"

"If he doesn't master it, what happens?" she asked.

"I can't allow him to be a ninja," he said. "That was the condition from Hokage-sama. If Naruto-kun doesn't master the basics, then he can't become a ninja."

"I'll try my best to help him then."

"Please do, I trust that you can do it."

She took Naruto from him, and supported him with one of his hands hung over her shoulder. "Please, don't get your expectations too high, sensei. He's still a novice. The fact that he is improving in such a speed is miraculous."

Kakashi chuckled slightly. "Almost like he was born to be a ninja, right?"

*o*o*o*

The next day, Naruto felt refreshed again, so he went to train early in the morning. At the training grounds, he found Sakura and Sasuke, training as well. They waved at him, and he waved back and ambled his way to them.

"You've learned the substitution and the transformation Jutsu, right?" Sasuke questioned and Naruto nodded in respond. "Great, then all you need to learn is the clone Jutsu, and then you're done with the basics."

Naruto's face fell slightly at that. "About the clone Jutsu, I have a question…"

"Shoot," Sakura said.

"How are you supposed to feel?" he asked. "Every time I try, I feel a little spark, and then it dies."

_He feels a spark?_ The two ninjas looked at each other, and then back at Naruto. "You just have to imagine another you," Sasuke said. "Like, when you do the signs, and then imagine yourself standing beside yourself… I don't know how to explain it, but I never feel a spark…"

"I don't either," Sakura said, agreeing with Sasuke. "How much chakra do you use?"

"Kakashi-sensei said that I should only use a little, so that's what I focused on," he answered. "But no matter how many times I did it, I felt like I used too much. I just can't get it any lower than that." He sighed and bit down on his lip.

The two ninjas looked at each other, yet again. "You think he might…" Sakura questioned.

"I think so," Sasuke answered.

_What,_ Naruto thought as he looked at them and listened to their so-called _conversation_.

"Then maybe he should…"

"Yeah, I think so too."

_Think what; please tell me, what do you think?_ Naruto tried to smile, but it turned into a scowl instead.

"But how are we gonna…"

"I don't know, maybe we should ask…"

"Yeah, that's probably for the best."

_They're trying to provoke me,_ he thought. _They're doing that on purpose._

*o*o*o*

Another day without luck, Naruto walked back to the Hyuga residence, exhausted. _Damn it, I couldn't do it today either. What the hell is with that stupid Jutsu, why do I have to learn it? _He sighed and looked up to the sky. "Why can't I just get it right?"

"Maybe because of your chakra coils," a voice said and as Naruto turned to him, he saw Asuma. "You have a very powerful chakra, Naruto-kun. If you master it, you could be an unstoppable ninja. But your chakra coils are too large. That's why you fail at mastering the clone Jutsu."

"What does that mean?"

"You can't ever master such a petty Jutsu. You'll have to aim for something bigger, like the shadow clone Jutsu."

"What's different?" Naruto questioned. _Other than the shadow part…_

"Shadow clones are real clones, not just illusions like the clone Jutsu is," Asuma answered. "Though, if you want to learn that one, you'll have to ask Kakashi. I should not even say this to you; I just thought it would be better if you knew, instead of you waiting to succeed."

"Did Kakashi-sensei know?"

"I think he did," he answered. "But he was probably just testing it at first to confirm his theory."

"Then I should try the shadow clones?"

"Well, it's a forbidden Jutsu, so I don't think you'll be allowed to…"

"Where's Kakashi-sensei?!"

_Like talking to a wall,_ he thought, chuckling. "He's at the Hokage tower."

Naruto jumped to the roof of a building. "Thank you, Asuma-sensei!" he yelled as he started running and jumping from building to building.

"I guess he has learned a lot since I taught him…"

*o*o*o*

As Naruto arrived to the Hokage tower he was just about to knock on the door to the Hokage's office, when he stopped as soon as heard some voices. "Do you really think we should let Oto join the Chunin exams?" a voice questioned, which he identified as Kakashi's.

"We can't just forbid them from coming," another voice, the Hokage's, said. "Although I know why we shouldn't, this is a united exam. It is for everyone."

"But Hokage-sama, if Naruto-kun found out that it was Oto, he'll kill them."

"How is he going to find out that Otogakure, the village hidden in the sound, was the one who attacked the Corn village?"

* * *

**Well, yeah… I have a lot of free time …**


	11. Chapter 11

**Still looking for that Beta… Thanks for everything so far, I hope it'll get even better with this chapter. Although, it may be a little boring.**

**Summary:**

Naruto grew up in another village, a non-ninja village, where team Kakashi is coincidently having a mission.

* * *

**Chapter 11**

"Hokage-sama, you sensed his chakra…"

"The best way to tell him is accidental."

*o*o*o*

To say that Naruto wasn't shocked, when he found out about his village's attacker, would be underestimating his mental strength. Because on the sixth day, he was actually working harder than ever on the one Jutsu he just couldn't master. The clone Jutsu. _I'll master it; I can do it, just one clone!_ And as he tried once again, he formed the three hand signs, and focused with all his might.

He felt something. He actually felt something! He opened his eyes, which was closed, and looked around. To his left he saw it, an actual clone! Not exactly the best clone, but a clone nonetheless! A little pale, a little melted and deflated, but he created something.

A smile crept up on his face as he looked at the poor clone. "I did it… I actually created a clone!"

"A useless clone," another voice said. "If you used that in battle I guess the enemy would fall over laughing. It's a weapon in some way, at least."

"Kiba-kun," Naruto muttered. "Then, what should I do to actually create clones?"

Kiba blinked. Twice. "How the hell should I know? Didn't you talk to Asuma-sensei yesterday? He should've given you some advice!"

_Ah, the shadow clones… I forgot all about it,_ he thought. _My chakra coils are too large for the clone Jutsu, but I created something, so maybe Asuma-sensei was wrong… No, he couldn't be. He taught me about chakra, of course he knows everything about it!_

"Ha~, I guess you were just false hope for team seven," he said. "They're really depending on you to get ready before the Chunin exams. If you do, then I'm not the stupid, dead-last anymore, so come on!"

"Ah, Kiba-kun," Naruto started, "what do you know about Oto?"

Once again, Kiba blinked. Twice. "Oto? Is that a village?"

Naruto nodded and said: "Otogakure, the village hidden in the sound."

"There's a ninja village with that name?" he questioned. "I didn't even know that. Well, whatever it is, it's probably just a small village. Maybe you should ask Sasuke-kun, he is the rookie of the year. He might know something about them, why?"

"Ah, um…" he muttered, averting his eyes slightly. "No, it's nothing, but thanks…"

"Well then, you should really practice that technique, or else I won't be able to see the person the Jounin-senseis are all talking about in action, ya' hear me, Naruto-kun?"

*o*o*o*

That day, Kakashi decided to watch over Naruto's training when he saw his two students walking away from the training grounds. _Did they try to help him?_ Kakashi wondered, as he used his stealth to get extra close to the two Genins.

"He's too naïve," Sasuke said.

"To fall for the same trick two times in a row is a disappointment, he should really work on seeing through a transformation," Sakura responded. "First it was when I transformed into you, and then again with Kiba. Luckily, we got Asuma-sensei to tell him all about the thing with the chakra. Seriously, why do we have to get disappointed all the time?"

"Take a breath, Sakura. He created a useless clone, so it's just as we expected. His chakra coils are too large and he should focus on something larger than such a petty Jutsu," Sasuke said, looking at the bushes as if they were suspicious. "_Kakashi-sensei_ should really go and teach him another clone Jutsu… Don't you think so, too, other student of _Hatake Kakashi-sensei?_"

_He emphasized my name; he's on to me… As expected of the rookie of the year, but that's just annoying,_ Kakashi thought, slightly glaring at his students. _They're right about two things, though. Naruto-kun's chakra coils are too large for the clone Jutsu and another one might be more suitable. The shadow clone Jutsu, a forbidden Jutsu, isn't good for a novice like him, but for his sake I should probably teach him it._

"Where's that pervert of a teacher?" Sakura asked, taking the hints Sasuke left her. "Seriously, I shouldn't feel safe in the hot springs…"

_I wanna see Kurenai-san naked, not you…_

*o*o*o*

"Naruto-kun~," a voice called out, and it was Kakashi's voice. "I see you're training really hard, Naruto-kun. I guess you're not going to perfect the clone Jutsu, huh?"

_Thanks for your motivation,_ Naruto thought with a frown. "What should I do? I've been told that the shadow clones Jutsu is probably better, but it might be too hard for me to learn."

"I learned it in one day," Kakashi said, surprising Naruto. "Though, I'm a genius, so it's only logical," his laughter interrupted himself, "but you, Naruto-kun, you remind me a lot of another genius, who was even greater than me. A genius, who I looked up to and wanted to become like, you remind me of Minato-sensei."

_The fourth,_ he thought in awe. _How can I remind him of such a great person…?_

"But, I see Kushina-san in you even more," he said. "Minato-sensei always told me and my other comrades, of how he thought that she was the strongest ninja in the village. She protected them even without us knowing, he said. If I tell you the theory behind the shadow clones, you can learn it in no time."

"She protected them without you even knowing? How?"

Kakashi gave him an eye-smile. "Just like you're doing, Naruto-kun. Just by living you're protecting everyone," he answered. "And like my comrade, Rin. By dying, she protected the village in a way that only Kushina-san, you and just a small handful of ninjas can understand. You'll understand what I mean in time."

"Why can't you understand?"

"Because I'm empty," he said. "Like Sakura, Sasuke, Hinata, Shino and Kiba are. We're all empty, unlike you and Kushina-san and that small handful of ninjas."

To say that Naruto was confused, would be underestimating his current thoughts. No, Naruto was beyond confused. But he listened to his teacher, when he said that he'd understand in time. But that didn't mean that he wouldn't keep thinking about it.

"Now to the theory of the shadow clone Jutsu!"

*o*o*o*

On the seventh day, team seven, and Umino Iruka, met up and looked at the boy in front of them. "I have something to show you," he said with a proud smile. "This week, I've learned the transformation, the substitution and the shadow clone Jutsu. I would like to show them all to you."

"Ah, Naruto-kun," Kakashi interrupted. "Iruka-kun is an academy teacher, and he'll help grading your performance all in all. In the ninja academy, you don't need to learn that much about Genjutsu, but tomorrow your training will start anyway. Today he'll just grade you in Taijutsu and Ninjutsu, and then we'll see if you're qualified."

"If I'm not?" Naruto asked, with confidence in his tone.

"Then you'll have to do your best in Genjutsu," he answered, challenging Naruto to a staring contest. It took a little whilst for the two to stop glaring, but Sakura interrupted them, asking them to get to the case. _His glare gets an A+._

Iruka chuckled at the scene. "Well, Naruto-kun, let's get started on the two basic Jutsu's you've learned. We'll start with the transformation Jutsu, and then the substitution."

Naruto nodded, and formed his hands into the seals it took to transform. "**Transform!**" he yelled out, as he got covered in a cloud of smoke. When the smoke faltered, out of nowhere stood Hinata. "I've trained my transformation based on Hinata-san," he laughed, slightly.

_That's pretty good for a beginner,_ Iruka thought, as he checked it off in his map. "Then the substitution."

Hand signs were formed, as he did the substitution Jutsu, in which he replaced himself with a log. When the log became visible, he came out of the bushes he was hiding in, and smiled at the group of people in front of him. "So?"

"That was great, Naruto-kun," Iruka said. "Now we'll go to the other Jutsu you told me about, and then we'll go to the shuriken and kunai test and some basic Taijutsu tests."

With a smile, Naruto nodded and proceeded to do the things he was told to, but not without thinking back to the days in the Corn village. When he had first left, he had no intentions at all to become a ninja, no. When he left, he was with Taiga, but now he was alone and here he was, taking a test to see if he was qualified to become a ninja, or not.

A lot had happened in such a short amount of time, and he knew that a lot more was going to happen.

*o*o*o*

In the end, after he had not trained his Taijutsu for a week, he failed it miserably. Three out of ten of the shuriken had hit the targets, and six out of ten of the kunais had hit. His kicks and punches were alright, and with his chakra control, he barely passed those.

_Do your best with your Genjutsu training,_ Kakashi said to him afterwards, and so he aimed to do his best. The day after the seventh day of the Ninjutsu training, the Genjutsu week started, and he was going to be taught by Yuuhi Kurenai.

_Yuuhi Kurenai-sensei is Kiba-kun, Shino-kun and Hinata-san's teacher, if I recall,_ he thought on his way to the training grounds. _According to Hinata-san, she's very kind, but she can be tough. Yosh, I'll have to do my best today!_

"Welcome, Naruto-kun," a female voice said, and Naruto's eyes met the red ones of hers. "You probably already know that I am Yuuhi Kurenai, and I'm your Genjutsu teacher. During this week you'll have to follow three basic rules: One, do not be fooled by anything, two, always see underneath the underneath and three, always think twice about going in one direction."

As she finished what she had said, Naruto felt this cold sensation on his skin, and he finally realized that he was in the river of training ground seven. Before he could think about another thing, he felt the need of oxygen hitting him and he swam to the surface and breathed heavily. He was not prepared for that one, he thought.

"By falling into the river, you've already broken all three rules," she said, disappointed. "You were fooled into thinking that you were walking on a safe surface, you didn't see underneath the underneath, just under the water and you didn't even hesitate to walk my way. What have we learned from this?"

Naruto was stunned, so he couldn't speak.

"What have we learned from this, Naruto-kun?"

He coughed, and shook his head to get his mind back in place. "I shouldn't trust just anybody?" he questioned.

"I'm here to teach you the basics of Genjutsu, how to tell them apart from reality and the theory behind Genjutsu," she explained. "The Genjutsu I just used was a basic one, the one called _Demonic illusion: false surrounding Jutsu._"

Naruto nodded, slightly.

"I'm looking forward to working with you, Naruto-kun; I've heard that you're quite the natural."

"Y-You too…" he stuttered in a small voice.

*o*o*o*

"S-She's evil," Naruto muttered, trying to eat the rice, which had been served at the Hyuga residence.

Hinata chuckled slightly. "Kurenai-sensei is a strict teacher sometimes, but she's kind when you have accomplished it," she said, trying to encourage him.

"She made me walk around town without my pants… I didn't even realize it… I was under a Genjutsu…"

The door to the room opened, and in came Hyuga Hiashi, the father of Hyuga Hinata and Hanabi. "I see you've already begun," he said with a slight smile.

"Sorry father," Hinata said. "We weren't sure when you would be home from that mission, so we began without you." She rose from her seat to prepare the food for her father.

"It's alright," he answered, "it was an easy mission, nothing big at all." He sat down at the table and stared at Naruto. This time he was glaring at him. "You haven't done anything inappropriate here, have you?"

Naruto could feel the heat invade his ears, when he heard that. "N-No, sir… I've behaved. Thank you, for letting me stay in your home, once again…"

"I've heard about it from a branch member," Hiashi said, refusing to believe him. "You walked around without your pants in the village… Please explain yourself, Naruto-kun."

Naruto nodded, trying to find his courage with a deep breath. "Today I began my Genjutsu week, in which I failed to notice a Genjutsu being cast over me by Kurenai-sensei," he explained. "I thought my pants were on. It was unintentional, please don't kill me."

"Understood," he said with a nod of his own. "Now, I trust that you didn't touch my own daughter's anywhere inappropriate as well."

"Father," the two Hyuga daughter's called out, embarrassed by his remark.

"Is it time for me to find my own place?" Naruto questioned with a frown.

Hinata turned her head to him, and shook it. "You don't have to, Naruto-kun; you can stay as long as you want," she said. "Of course, my father would stop being rude to you while you're here, I can assure you of that… I think."

"No, it might be better if I found my own place," he stated. "I'm gonna stay in Konoha for a while, so I don't wanna bother you any more than I've already done. During my Genjutsu week, I'll look for a place to live, I could ask Kakashi-sensei, too, if it is…"

"But I'm telling you, you don't have to-"

"Bye," Hiashi said, with absolutely no emotions at all, as he interrupted Hinata.

Once again, the two girls scolded him with a: "father!"

* * *

**I didn't know how to end this chapter, so I decided to end it with Naruto moving out. I hope you liked this chapter, because I didn't. I thought it was boring as hell, and I should just get to the case with this story already. But I have to write all this to build up the story. Once the Chunin exams are over, the story will make even more sense.**

**And no, by Kakashi did not tell Naruto about Kyuubi, he only hinted it by telling him that other people were "empty"…**


	12. Chapter 12

**Once again, I have a lot of free time. I have yet to find a Beta, so if you see a mistake, please do tell me about it. I'll correct it as soon as possible.**

**Summary:**

Naruto grew up in another village, a non-ninja village, where team Kakashi is coincidently having a mission.

* * *

**Chapter 12**

Kakashi sighed at the sight. All the special Jounins of the Genin teams in Konoha were gathered. "Well, I guess it's time to announce it, huh?" he muttered, scratching the back of his head.

"It's not surprising for us at all," Kurenai said, "we already knew about it, Hokage-sama."

"Well, the official announcement still has to be done," Asuma responded.

"Yosh, my youthful Genins will take this exam!" Gai exclaimed with enormous confidence.

"Well, I'll announce it properly now," the Hokage started, as he looked at the Jounins assembled in front of him, "seven days from now, on the first day of the seventh moon, the Chunin selection exam will commence!"

*o*o*o*

"My name is Konohamaru, Sarutobi Konohamaru!" a boy exclaimed looking up at the Suna-nin, who was wearing all-black and some purple face paint. "I'm the honored grandson of the Hokage! You can't just do this to me!"

The ninja didn't look impressed at all, actually, he looked amused. "So what, do you really think that I care? I'm the son of the Kazekage, being the grandson is like a distant relative," he said laughing.

"Kankuro," the other Suna-nin said in a warning tone. "Stop that, or you'll get scolded later."

"He probably won't know of this, Temari," the ninja, identified as Kankuro, answered. "Besides it's this brat's fault for bumping into me, I could've been hurt before the Chunin exams!"

"I'm not involved then," Temari said.

"Ah," another one said, and as the two ninjas looked over, they saw a blonde-haired kid. "Um, is there a problem here?"

_He looks Gaara's age,_ Kankuro thought. _Yet, there is no headband. Either he failed, or he's a civilian._ "Shoo, kid, this doesn't concern you."

"You're right it doesn't," he agreed. "But, um, I have to go this way to the training grounds, and you're blocking the way. Besides, he's just a kid; he didn't do it on purpose, right, Konohamaru-kun?" The blonde-haired boy looked at the honored grandson, with a smile, and he couldn't help but smile as well.

"What's with that happy-go-lucky atmosphere around you?" Konohamaru asked the blonde-haired boy. "Who are you? I've never seen you in the village before."

"Stop having a conversation when I'm threatening to hit you!" Kankuro scolded. "You, Blondie, go another way if you can't slip past us!" _What's his business with the training grounds? He's not even a ninja. Heck, he looks freaking timid and he has no muscles at all!_

"Don't hit him," he said. "Ah, I'm Uzumaki Naruto; I'm from the Corn village. I've been here for about a month now…"

"Eh, that's a small village," Konohamaru rudely, remarked.

"Ah, but to the case," Naruto said, coughing into his hand. "Please let him go."

"Naruto-kun!" another voice called out, revealing a pink-haired girl.

Kankuro sighed in frustration. "And another freak arrives!" _This one is a ninja…_

"Eh, Suna-ninjas?" she questioned, looking at the two ninjas. "Is it already time for the foreigners to arrive, and what the hell are you doing to that kid?! Let him go immediately!"

"Sakura-san," Naruto muttered. "Apparently, Konohamaru-kun bumped into him and now he's being threatened… Ah, but please don't hit him, Kankuro-san, was it?"

"Kankuro?" Sakura questioned once again. "You hear me, Kankuro you bastard! Stop causing trouble in our village, you're merely a visitor, you should behave!"

"Who the hell are you?!" the Suna-nin yelled.

"Haruno Sakura, a Konoha Genin," she answered. "Now, I'll have to ask you once again, let the kid go, or I'll report this to Hokage-sama."

"Ah, so you're participating in the Chunin exams?" Naruto asked, with a smile. "Sakura-san, people from other countries are joining too? I didn't know that."

Sakura nodded in respond. "Two times a year, a village gets chosen as the host of the Chunin exams. This time it's Konoha's, so ninjas all over the world comes to participate. Although, Iwagakure doesn't show when it's Konoha."

"Why?"

"Because the fourth defeated them singlehanded."

Naruto's face lit up. "The fourth Hokage did? That's amazing, he was so strong!"

*o*o*o*

"Now, first those who're watching over the new Genins," Hiruzen said. "Kakashi, Kurenai and Asuma, are there any of your Genins, who you would like to recommend? I don't have to tell you but, they'll need at least eight completed mission, before they qualify to take the Chunin exams. Let's start with Kakashi."

"The Kakashi led team seven, Uchiha Sasuke and Haruno Sakura, under the name of Hatake Kakashi, I nominate them to take the Chunin selection exams," Kakashi responded, holding the half of a ram sign in front of his mask. "Of course, we do not have enough members, so I also nominate an unauthorized ninja, Uzumaki Naruto."

"An illegal ninja?" another Jounin questioned. "Is that even possible?"

"Instead of illegal, I would prefer unofficial," he corrected. "Uzumaki Naruto of the Corn village, he has shown outstanding talent for the art of ninja. He has completed three out of four of the important arts. Kenjutsu, Taijutsu, Ninjutsu and, he is on his way with Genjutsu under the supervision of Yuuhi Kurenai. All the same with his natural born chakra control. He is specially trained for this Chunin exam."

"What about the required missions?" Kurenai asked. "Even if he does _pass_ your little test, he still can't complete the eight missions at the same time that I'm teaching him about Genjutsu. Did you even consider any of this?"

"I did!" Kakashi said, and then looked at Hiruzen. "I was hoping that he could be an exception maybe…?"

The Hokage chuckled. "Then, I'll let him enter the Chunin exams, if he can make the eight missions of course."

Kakashi sighed. "Wha~t?"

"I can't make an exception, Kakashi," he answered. "But I can give him the eight easiest missions, and then we can register him as an official ninja. That way he can enter the Chunin exams."

"But Naruto-kun can't make it then," the teacher complained, slightly.

"Wait, Uzumaki Naruto?" the other academy teacher, who was sitting beside Iruka, questioned. "Isn't it that boy who disappeared a long time ago? If I recall, you call him the Forgotten Boy. Why didn't you send a search party if he was that valuable of a future ninja? Moreover, isn't he the host of Kyuubi?"

"Mizuki-sensei," Iruka said in a warning tone. "You shouldn't speak of that here."

"No, no, it's alright," Kakashi answered. "He is that boy, yes. I'm surprised you remember him."

"Of course I do, he was a little troublemaker, even at such a young age," Mizuki said. "But why is he back now?"

"We found him-"

"Moreover," the third said, coughing into his hand to get their attention. "Kakashi has nominated two, plus a third. Kurenai?"

"The Kurenai led team eight, Inuzuka Kiba, Aburame Shino and Hyuga Hinata," she started, with a half a ram sign in front of her face, "under the name of, Yuuhi Kurenai, nominate them to the Chunin selection exams."

"Asuma?"

"The Asuma led team ten, Yamanaka Ino, Nara Shikamaru, Akimichi Chouji," he started out, with the same gesture as Kurenai and Kakashi, "under the name of Sarutobi Asuma, I nominate them to the Chunin selection exams."

"Hm," the Hokage mumbled, "all of them, how rare."

"Well then," Kurenai started, "I have to go and meet Naruto-kun for his third Genjutsu lesson. If you'll excuse me…"

"You're excused," Hiruzen answered, as the woman disappeared in a cloud of smoke. "Well then, for last year's graduates, we only have team Gai, so please step forward."

Gai stepped forward, as told, and held a hand in the same half ram sign as the other teachers did. "The Gai led team nine, Hyuga Neji, Tenten, Rock lee," he started out, "under the name of Maito Gai; I nominate them to the Chunin selection exams."

*o*o*o*

"Don't go and ignore the fact that I am threatening this brat!" Kankuro shouted at them. "You were all for saving him before!"

_Naruto-kun looked really happy at the fourth Hokage comment,_ Sakura thought, whilst staring at the mentioned boy. "Right, what did the boy do again?"

"He bumped into me!" he exclaimed. "Wouldn't you want to beat up a brat, who bumped into you without apologizing?!"

"He didn't apologize?" Naruto questioned. "That's wrong, Konohamaru-kun, you have to apologize to him."

"Wha~t?" Konohamaru whined, and then noticed that his friends were still there. "Moegi, Udon! Say something, damn it!"

"B-But… he looks scary," Moegi stuttered, and Udon agreed with her with a nod and a sniff.

"Oh, _you're_ scared?" the boy muttered, sarcastically. "Try seeing this in my point of view! You would be shitting your pants if you were me! You hear me?!"

"I give up," Kankuro said, with a sigh. "This is too tiresome! Why the hell is Konoha such a stupid village?"

"Yo," a new voice said, and they turned to see Sasuke. "What's going on here? Ah, the foreigners have already arrived, huh? Naruto, why aren't you at the training grounds yet? You do know you only have four more days, after today, to learn about Genjutsu, right? Get going, already."

"S-Sorry, but Kankuro-san was threatening Konohamaru-kun and…" Naruto stuttered, and trailed off when he saw Kankuro staring at him. "W-What's wrong…?"

"You're a ninja?" he asked.

Naruto averted his eyes slightly as he thought about how to answer that. _If I do well in Genjutsu, then I'm a ninja, if I don't, then I'm not… Should I just say that I'm a ninja in training? Yeah, I should just say that,_ he thought with a smile. "I'm-"

"He's a ninja," Sakura and Sasuke answered in unison, interrupting Naruto, too.

He sighed, and scratched the back of his head. _Should I just agree?_ "What they said…" _Why did they even say that? They don't know whether I'll pass, or not… This is getting messy… Okay, we have Temari-san and Kankuro-san from Suna, the village hidden in the sand, and we have the three kids from Konoha, Moegi-chan, Udon-kun and Konohamaru-kun… Ah, I remembered their names!_

"Why are you smiling?" Sasuke asked him.

"Ah," he stuttered and averted his eyes once again. "Y-You called me a ninja, I guess…"

"You're not?" the girl from Suna, Temari, said, finally joining in on their conversation. "Well, you do look a little skinny for a ninja…"

"I'm still in training," Naruto answered, honestly, earning a nudge in his rips on both sides. Sakura and Sasuke had bored their elbows into them, as a sign for him to shut up. _W-What was that for?_ Naruto thought, confused.

Sakura whispered to him in respond to the question he had just thought about: "Don't reveal that you're still in training, they are the enemy in the Chunin exams. It'll be dangerous if rumor got out that we have a novice on the team."

"It's a bad thing?" he questioned.

Sasuke pulled in on their conversation. "That's a really bad thing," he whispered. "If they knew, or any other team for that matter, then we would become their first target. We would be killed on the spot, so listen to us and keep your mouth shut."

Naruto's face paled slightly. _I knew being a ninja was dangerous, but to be killed during an exam… I wonder how their academy exam was like,_ he thought, as he imagined the horror that could've taken place in Konoha. He really missed the Corn, now.

"Kankuro, Temari," yet, another new voice, said from the trees, startling everyone around them. The boy in the tree had bright red hair and no eyebrows above his green-blue eyes with black bags surrounding them. He looked intimidating, and he sent out a dangerous aura. "Stop causing trouble and behave."

"G-Gaara," Kankuro muttered, with clear fear.

Sand surrounded the red-haired boy as he disappeared from the tree and appeared again on the ground in front of the two Konoha-nins and Naruto. "I'm sorry for my siblings' behavior, it won't happen again," Gaara said, and then looked back at the two Suna-nins. "Let's go, Baki is waiting for us."

The two of them nodded in fear, as they walked past the Konoha-nins and Naruto, but not without a single glance from Gaara, accidently locking eyes with the blonde-haired Corn villager…

"_I won't be here much longer," a voice said, looking out at giant animals, yet they were still babies. Some of them were of one species, whilst others were mixed. "Shukaku, Matatabi, Isobu, Son Goku, Kokuou, Saiken, Choumei, Gyuuki, Kurama, you will always be together even if you are separated. And one day, you will all become one…"_

_A man with a long coat, decorated with nine tomoes and above those, five circles which became smaller and smaller, surrounding a dot. Two small lines at the sides were also visible, and he was holding a stick in his right hand._

"_With different names… in different forms than you exist now. And unlike when you were within me, you will be led down the right path."_

Naruto and Gaara turned both to each other, equally shocked at what they had seen, and in unison they asked one another: "Who're you?"

* * *

**In the next chapter, I will begin the Chunin exams. Sorry if this chapter was a little messy, but I have a fever right now, so I don't know what I'm writing. The same goes for the chapter, which was released yesterday, I didn't feel too well, but I managed.**

**Sorry if anything I wrote was confusing, and any questions will be answered. Until next time, WOSH.**

…

**I've noticed that every time I try to write "messy", I start with writing "Messi"… I've watched too much soccer…**


	13. Chapter 13

**So I finally found a Beta for my story. His username is **_**Blackrazgriz, **_**I call him Raz. This is the first chapter of the story he has Beta'ed, so I hope you like it. Of course, do compliment him for his work, too. I'm sure that'll make him happy.**

**Summary:**

Naruto grew up in another village, a non-ninja village, where team Kakashi is coincidently having a mission.

_Beta: Blackrazgriz_

* * *

**Chapter 13**

The two boys looked into each other's eyes, neither of them letting up for an instant. Eventually, the Gaara broke the stalemate on their little staredown.

"You go first," Gaara said. Well, more like he demanded it.

"Don't you know?" Naruto questioned. "It's common courtesy to state your name, before asking another's."

Gaara had to give up on that one. "Sabaku no Gaara," he answered.

"Uzumaki Naruto."

*o*o*o*

"What was with that attitude back then?" Sakura asked when they were on their way to the training grounds. "That was nothing like you, what happened?"

"N-No, it's just that ever since you came to the Corn village, I've had these visions, which I've already told you about, of my lost memories, I think," Naruto answered, looking down in wonder. "This time I saw something really strange. I wasn't even in that memory; it didn't even feel like it was mine, but when I locked eyes with Gaara-kun, I saw it."

The two ninjas looked at each other. "Maybe we should ask Kakashi-sensei about it," Sasuke suggested. "Maybe he can come up with an answer for that. Although, recovering a memory where you're not even in it…that's just weird."

"I was in a perspective," Naruto said. "But my name wasn't mentioned, but then a man in the middle looked at me."

"A man?" Sakura questioned. "Tell us about that memory."

Naruto nodded and began to think back. "There was a circle of animals… Some mixed, some not. We were surrounding a little man in the middle, who called us all for some strange names. He told us that he won't be here much long, that even though we're separated, we'll one day become one. Unlike when we existed within him, we'll be led to the right path or something like that… I don't know what that meant. He looked really old, too."

"That's strange," Sasuke said without much thought. "I was almost lost in _some mixed, some not, _and what do you mean by _within_?"

He shrugged in respond. "How should I know? I don't even know why I even saw that… Maybe I really should ask Kakashi-san…"

"Kakashi-_sensei,_" a voice interrupted, and as they turned around they saw Kakashi and Kurenai. "Hello, cute students. We've arrived, right after we went to see Team Eight… We accidently overheard your conversation…" Kakashi admitted.

"In other words, if you could describe this man to the point where we can picture it, that would be great," Kurenai said. "I'm actually quite interested in what this is all about."

"Um," Naruto mumbled, "I can't really remember what he looked like exactly, but I remember some small things. Like on his back, he had a couple of those things that were in Sasuke-kun's eyes-"

"Which eyes?" Sasuke asked.

"The red ones," he replied, as Sasuke activated the Sharingan. "Yeah, those black things. I don't remember how many exactly, but above those there were a couple of circles, which became one outer circle and a couple inside of that circle, which in the middle is a dot. It kind of looked like an eye, actually."

"An eye?" the two Jounins questioned.

"Yeah, an eye," Naruto answered. "Because on each side of those eyes, there were two short, straight lines. I-I can draw it, if it is."

Kakashi and Kurenai nodded: "That would be great," Kakashi said in respond.

*o*o*o*

Kakashi had left the group, after he had told them about the nomination. He also told Naruto about the eight-mission thing before he left. In his hand were the drawing of the symbol, the boy had seen in his _memories_. He planned on going to the Hokage to confirm one of his theories.

He had just arrived to the office, and he knocked on the door. "Come in," Hiruzen answered from the other side and Kakashi walked into the office. "What is it now, Kakashi? Ever since Naruto-kun came back, you've visited by office more often than usual."

"Naruto-kun had a vision," he answered casually, as if it was the most normal thing. "A vision of the past, again."

"As Sasuke and Sakura reported, his first one was of when he was brought to the Corn village by Shisui," Hiruzen recalled, "and according to Taiga-kun, he had a vision of a time, where he met a person named Hyuuga Hinata. Naruto-kun just refused to believe that one… What was this one about?"

"It wasn't his."

"What do you mean?"

"In his latest vision he saw something beyond his own memories," Kakashi answered and told him about the whole thing, and of course he showed him the drawing of the circles. "I have a theory, but I'm not so sure about it."

"I have a theory as well…"

"Naruto-kun saw the Sage of the Six Paths," the two of them said in unison.

"These circles are the form of the Rinnegan," the Hokage muttered still looking over the pictures. "There's no doubt about it. The only question is; why did he see that?" They became silent afterwards, they were thinking of every possibility as to why Naruto saw what he saw. But there was only one conclusion, which was the most likely.

"You don't think that Kyuubi has been affected by the same Genjutsu and lost his memories," Kakashi started, "do you?"

"Of course I do," Hiruzen replied with a chuckle. "Like Naruto-kun, Kyuubi is under a Genjutsu as well. That's why he sees the memories of his past, just like his host does."

"But what could've triggered the vision?" the Jounin questioned, as he thought: _obviously, it was when he locked eyes with someone, as he said._ "Could it be that Sunagakure has a Jinchuuriki who's about Naruto-kun's age?"

"The host of the one-tailed dog raccoon, Ichibi?" the Hokage asked, receiving a nod from Kakashi. "They do, he's supposed to be the Kazekage's son. I have heard that all three of his children are participating this year, but could it have been the host of Ichibi, who triggered the memories of Kyuubi?"

"It's possible," Kakashi said. "Like when Naruto-kun sees something that reminds him of the past, maybe Kyuubi does the same. If the Ichibi boy really is the one he locked eyes with, then it could've done it."

"With two hosts of tailed-beasts," the third started with a slight smile, "This Chuunin selection exam is going to be unforgettable, huh?"

*o*o*o*

"How am I going to complete eight missions in only seven days?!" Naruto exclaimed in frustration, as he looked up at Kurenai. "I'm barely passing his test! No wait, moreover, how am I going to take the Chuunin selection exam, if I'm already having trouble becoming a Genin?! Wait, wait, I'm not even done yet! I still have to look for an apartment, how am I going to do that -"

"Shut up, would you?!" Sasuke yelled at him. "We'll help you with your stupid missions, so just focus on your stupid Genjutsu lesson, right now!"

"What stupid Genjutsu lesson, Sasuke-kun?" Kurenai questioned with a glare, which made him silent. "But he's right, Naruto-kun, you have to focus on your lessons now. Genjutsu requires full concentration for one to succeed. I'll give you three and a half hour lessons the next four days, and you'll do one mission afterwards. On one of the seven days there's left until the Chunin selection exams, you'll do two. And as for the apartment thing, you won't need that during the exams, so look for it after."

"If he survives," Sakura muttered.

"If you survive," the Jounin repeated.

"If I survive…" Naruto repeated after them. "What do you mean if I survive?! You all make it sound like I'm gonna get killed! I won't, right?"

Sasuke joined in: "You never know."

*o*o*o*

The week went at an abnormal pace, according to the blonde. He had passed his tests, made his ninja profile and the paperwork to it, completed the required eight missions with the help of his new teammates, and he had sparred with Kiba!

"How did their spar turn out?" Asuma asked when he saw the two Jounin, Kurenai and Kakashi, walk into the Hokage tower.

"He's below Kiba," Kurenai answered, "his level is high, for someone who has only practiced the art of the ninja for a month, but against one with a little more experience, he's like a ninja who has just passed the academy exam. Though, the other eight rookies are also just fresh out of the academy, they've all improved drastically. I'm looking forward to Naruto-kun's growth, Kakashi."

"Me as well," Kakashi responded with an eye-smile. "It'll all start tomorrow morning, in front of the academy. Do you know who the first examiner is?"

"I've heard it's Morino Ibiki, the head of the T&I department," Asuma said.

"That sadist?"

*o*o*o*

"Sasuke-kun, Sakura-san," Naruto called out on the day the Chuunin selection exam started. "Sorry, I planned on coming a little earlier, but I overslept… Luckily, Hinata-san woke me up." As he scratched his neck, he chuckled slightly, nervous.

"We didn't ask," Sasuke muttered as he walked in front of them. "Let's go, Team Seven, we'll definitely pass this test, without a doubt."

_I don't know what they expect from me, I just became a Genin;_ Naruto thought and sighed as he walked beside Sakura and behind Sasuke. "Y-You don't expect me to pass, do you?"

"Pf~," Sakura mocked, "of course not, you just became a Genin. We don't even expect to make it that far, but we'll try out best with that as our goal."

"Though," Sasuke started, "my brother passed on his first try, when he was seven. I'll catch up to him…"

"Eh, Sasuke-kun, you have a brother?" Naruto questioned a little excited. "So lucky, I wish I had a brother," he began laughing bitterly at that part, "Who knows, right? I could have a brother I don't remember, or a sister… I could even have parents!"

Sakura pitied him. That was the only thought she had. How terrible it would be to not remember, if you had a family, or not, she thought. But Sasuke didn't pity him. Not one bit. He understood the whole thing about wanting a family, but Sasuke would rather not remember them than have them dead.

*o*o*o*

"So it was third floor, room 301, right?" Naruto questioned and the other two nodded. _They're not very good at starting conversations,_ he thought and sighed. "Eh, what's going on?"

They heard a loud bum, a sound of someone falling. "Ha! You plan to take the Chuunin with that?!" a voice yelled in mockery. "You should just quit now!"

Two ninjas were standing in front of the room Naruto had just mentioned, room 301, to be exact. In front of the two ninjas were a bunch of other ninjas. "You're just a little kid," the other person said with a laugh, whilst the other agreed.

"Please…" a female ninja stepped forward and said that word with a pleading tone, "Please let us through..." In return she got punched in the face, and fell over to the other boy who had fallen. She groaned in pain as some of the other ninjas chattered to each other about how cruel those two were.

"Horrible," Naruto muttered as he saw the scene in front of him. He then turned to his comrades and asked: "Is that really alright? To hit a girl, that is…"

"Don't discriminate girls, Naruto-kun," Sakura growled at him, feeling slightly offended by his comment. "There are women who are even stronger than the average male ninja. No matter the gender, or age, you should not hesitate to attack a threat, you hear me?"

"S-Sorry," he mumbled, feeling ashamed of his own comment. He didn't mean to sound discriminating, he was just taught to respect women and always protect them. "But it's really horrible to do that even before the exam has started…"

"What did you say?" one of the two ninjas turned to him with a glare, and Naruto took a step back in shock. "Listen, this is our kindness. The Chuunin exam isn't easy... even we have failed it three times straight. Those that take this exam and end up quitting as ninjas, those that die during the exam, we've seen it all."

People around them were shocked, that was not a surprise for the two ninja. Some of them thought that they had underestimated the exams, some of them even thought of quitting right now, but the ninja interrupted their thoughts with, yet another thing, to say.

"And Chuunin often become captains of military teams," he started out. "The failure of a mission, the death of a comrade… That is entirely the captain's responsibility. Yet, kids like you think you can pass? We are just thinning out those that will fail anyway, what's wrong with that?"

"I agree but," Sasuke started, shocking Naruto at once, "you will let me pass through… and also, remove the surrounding created by the Genjutsu."

Naruto's eyes widened slightly. _One, do not be fooled by anything, two, always see underneath the underneath and three, always think twice about going in one direction_, Kurenai had said. "One, I shouldn't be fooled, it could all easily be a Genjutsu, two, see underneath the underneath, even though it's realistic, it could all be a lie, and three; this twice about going in one direction… We're on the second floor."

* * *

**Raz's way of editing the chapters is similar to my author school teacher. It's a good and easy way, so I hope that you'll all like him as I do so far… So far… owo… Thanks for reading, please review, favor or alert, any of them will do, and remember English is not my native language, so he had a lot of work. Until next time, WOSH.**


	14. Chapter 14

**So this is chapter 14, and I don't have much to say o.o'… I started school again, so updates will be slower, but otherwise, here is another chapter of Forgotten Boy, Beta'ed by Raz.**

**Summary:**

Naruto grew up in another village, a non-ninja village, where team Kakashi is coincidently having a mission.

_**Beta: Blackrazgriz**_

* * *

**Chapter 14**

Sakura grinned at Naruto's comment and slapped his back encouragingly. "Nice observations," she said. "It's true, this is only second floor. So should we get going to the third?"

"So you guys noticed," one of them said and chuckled, slightly. "Well, it had to be found out at some point, but to think by a bunch of rookies…"

"I'm sure that Sakura was the one to see through it first," Sasuke said with a shrug. "You still have a lot to learn, Naruto, even though you observed the situation right, you hesitated."

Naruto pouted, insulted. "I did not hesitate…"

"I saw it in your eyes, you doubted me," he continued with a glare. "You only remembered everything after I said this was a Genjutsu. Don't deny it, be a man and admit your mistake. You didn't trust me, and you said _they _were horrible, to not trust your own comrade is worse."

"Sasuke-kun," Sakura said, trying to calm him down. "Naruto-kun is still… you know, a little retarded in the art of Ninjutsu, but still…"

_Retarded,_ Naruto thought and felt like crying. "I know about the newbie thing, but retarded is kind of harsh… don't you think so, Sakura-san?"

"Don't change the subject, apologize first," Sasuke demanded. "Then we can talk about the retarded thing."

"I'm sorry…" he muttered. "But-"

"Don't ignore us!" the other one of the two ninjas, guarding the door, shouted at them, glaring at all three of them. "Seriously, you might've seen through the Genjutsu, but…" With a quick movement the ninja threw his foot out in a kick, aiming for Sasuke, which he also returned.

"Sasuke-kun!" his two comrades yelled out, as their kicks was about to land, but something got between them. No, some_one_ did. It was a boy in a green spandex with orange legwarmers, thick black eyebrows and shiny black bowl-cut hair. He had caught both legs in both of his hands, as if it was nothing.

Sasuke looked startled, but kept a straight face about it. _To be able to catch my kick like that, what is that chakra in his hands,_ he thought in wonder, as he withdrew his leg and walked over to where his own comrades stood, but not before looking back once again. _Huh, his injury has disappeared…What's going on here?_

"Hey," another boy with clear white irises, white shirt and dark pants said to the other boy, as he put a hand on his shoulder. "What happened to the plan? You're the one who said we shouldn't draw attention to ourselves."

The bowl-cut boy looked stared a little at his teammate, before a slight blush spread over his face. "Well," he muttered and looked back at team seven, whilst their female teammate sighed in frustration, knowing exactly what was going to happen. He formed his hand into a fist and held it in front of his chest, as if it was to give him confidence. He then walked towards the team, or to be exact, their female member, Sakura. "Hi," he said with a stiff smile to start with, but it slowly became more and more natural. "My name is Rock Lee, Sakura-san…"

_W-Wait,_ Naruto thought with his mouth agape, _could this be… a confession?! Whoa, Sakura-san is amazing, to be able to make a guy fall in love with her at first sight! But I feel like I've seen that guy before... From where have I seen him? I wonder…_

"Let us go out together!" Lee insisted, giving a toothy smile, with a sparkle, and a thumb up. "I will protect you until I die!"

Sakura was stiff from shock. _Bushy brows, shiny bowl-cut hair, green spandex and orange legwarmers… That is so… _"Lame."

Lee's smile slowly faltered and he felt his head fall to his chest, as he felt the rejection. Even Naruto was shocked; he could almost feel his pain. _I know the feeling, Lee-san; even I've been rejected before… Stay strong, stay strong, I'm cheering for you!_

"Then," Lee started out, "then I will just have to keep asking you!"

_Oh~, that's the spirit, you go Lee-san!_ Naruto thought, grinning like an idiot outside of his thoughts.

"Hey you," the other boy called out, as he looked at Sasuke. "What's your name?"

Sasuke stared at him a little, and then thought back to when they first met Gaara. "When you want to learn another person's name, you should give yours first, right Naruto?" He asked Naruto, but he was looking at Sakura, who looked just as amused as he did.

"You're a rookie, how old are you?" the boy kept going.

"I don't have to answer you," he replied and walked over to his group again. "Hey, Naruto, he's a Hyuuga, have you ever seen him before?"

Naruto shook his head, no. "I'm living with the main family, so maybe he's a branch member."

"Well then," Sakura said with a smile. "Naruto-kun, Sasuke-kun, let's get going already!" She took one of their hands in each of her own, and pulled them along.

Sasuke growled, slightly: "Don't pull me."

Whilst watching team seven leaving, the other team was left to stare at their back. The female stepped forward: "Come on Lee, what are you doing?"

"You guys go ahead, there's something I would like to test myself."

*o*o*o*

"That was interesting," Naruto muttered. "How many Genin are there in Konoha?" He wondered about that. He also wondered about what was going to happen at the exams, and how many people were going to show up. Actually, there were lots of things he was wondering about, but he had never gotten around to ask them about it. Like, why their team only had two Genin before he came along. All the other teams he had met had three...

The two experienced ninjas looked at each other, before they shrugged in respond. "We haven't kept count," Sasuke answered, scratching the back of his head. "It depends on how many passes every year, the maximum is nine. There are times where only three, six, two, one and so on passes, because most of them are too weak. You're lucky we needed you."

_Lucky,_ Naruto thought, as he reminded himself that he was practically forced to go to Konoha. "Asuma-sensei is team ten's teacher, right? I haven't met them yet… So that means only eight of you passed this time."

Sakura nodded, and mumbled a yes. "I thought you already knew that."

"I doubted my own information," he admitted, with a chuckle.

Sasuke stared at him: "Like you doubted me."

_He still hasn't forgotten!_ Naruto sighed, muttering a couple apologies. "Anyway, why is it that Lee-san has been following us?"

They shrugged in unison, once again. "Probably stalking Sakura, or something," Sasuke suggested. "Or he has fallen for me this time, and is stalking me."

"Hey you," Lee's voice called out, and they turned around to face him, "you with the dark hair."

"Told you…" he muttered. "What is it?"

"Will you fight me right here?" he asked, as he jumped down in front of them, landing on his feet and right arm, as support. "My name is Rock Lee. When you want to learn a person's name, you introduce yourself first, right?"

Sasuke smirked, and Sakura moved closer to Naruto. "You're going to see Sasuke-kun's true nature now, he's not as kind as you think," she whispered, confusing the blonde ninja.

"Uchiha Sasuke," he answered without hesitation. "So you already know, huh?"

"I want to fight you," Lee declared. "I want to test my techniques against the offspring of the genius ninja clan," he paused as he took his fighting stance, and then looked at Sakura. "Plus…" The female ninja noticed his staring, and held eye contact with him, until he did the unthinkable… He winked at her.

Her face paled considerably. "E-Ew…" she muttered in disgust and with a shaky voice. "Those lower eyelashes… ew. The hairstyle is lame… And those thick eyebrows. I think I'm going to have a heart attack if I don't look away."

_Heart attack,_ Naruto thought, _does that mean there's hope for Lee-san? Ah, but heart attack is meant to be a bad thing, right? But what if it's a good heart attack. How can a heart attack be good?! I'm remembering the old man, Jintarou. Such a sad time, he was the wisest person in the village, but he died half a year ago by a heart attack… Poor old man, ah wait, a fight?_

"Challenging me knowing the Uchiha name," Sasuke started, as his smirk faltered and was replaced by a serious expression. "Frankly, you're a fool. You're about to learn, what exactly this name means, thick brows."

"Please," Lee replied, whilst holding a front of his palm in front of his chest and the other hand behind his back. _I'm lucky… to already get to face the number one rookie. And I'll prove myself to Gai-sensei at the same time!_

"Wait," Naruto interrupted, as all eyes turned to him. "Sasuke-kun, thick brows is rude towards a senpai. Not to mention… genius clan? And suddenly Sasuke-kun turned into… such an egotistical person. Is your clan really that strong? Ah, and Sakura-san rejected Lee-san, that's sad, give him some time to heal before you reject him again."

"Now's not the time for that!" Sakura exclaimed, whilst slapping the back of his head. "Seriously, you don't even know about Sasuke-kun's clan, and you call yourself our teammate?"

"You haven't told me anything!" Naruto followed, with a pout. "Actually, I don't know anything about either of you, so don't blame me!"

Lee remained silent as he watched the team. _They have a really bad habit of ignoring people,_ he thought, as he coughed to get their attention. "I'll say this to start with; you guys cannot defeat me." _I've trained too long to get beaten here, I must give it my all._

Sasuke continued to stare at him. _He stopped my kick with his hand. That wasn't human; I don't know what kind of Ninjutsu he used but... _"Sounds fun, let's do this."

_Eh,_ Naruto thought, _eh, eh… EH?! _"H-Hey, we shouldn't fight now-"

"Oh!" Sakura exclaimed suddenly, "Sasuke-kun, don't! We only have 30 minutes to the meeting!"

As Sasuke rushed forward he answered: "I'll be done in five minutes!"

_He's coming,_ Lee thought; _I'm sorry Gai-sensei. I may need to break your rules. I may need to use that move._ With those thoughts he disappeared, according to the audience and opponent, and appeared again in front of Sasuke, but this time in the air, with his back to him and his leg stretched out as he yelled: "Leaf Spinning Wind!" It was a high-speed high reverse roundhouse kick.

_Above,_ Sasuke thought and managed to dodge the fast kick by kneeling to the ground, but as Lee was close to the ground he launched yet another kick. This time a middle reverse roundhouse kick. _Damn, I can't dodge it, I must block!_ With that, he brought his two hands up and formed a cross to block the kick, aimed at his head, and with only a glance, he saw Lee had formed a half of a ram sign in front of his face. _What…?_

Just when Sasuke had thought he had successfully blocked the kick, it somehow slipped past his guard and threw him backwards in the air, when it hit his cheek. "Sasuke-kun!" Sakura shrieked in worry for her teammate. _But… he had that blocked._

Naruto just watched the match. _So this is the level I have to compete with? A level that can give even Sasuke-kun a hard time… Can I really do that? It's like… It's like he's on a whole other level than either of us. What are you going to do now, Sasuke-kun?_

As Sasuke landed on the floor, he slowly got up with his thoughts running wild: _What's going on? He slipped through my guard… Was that Ninjutsu or Genjutsu?_ When Sasuke was completely on his feet, he began smiling. _Fine… I haven't been able to practice that, so this is an opportunity to do so. _"Sharingan." _Ninjutsu or Genjutsu, it must be some magic… I'll reveal it!_

He rushed forward towards his opponent, in hope that he might find out what kind of technique he's using, but he never made it that far. A kick to his chin was all it took to make Sasuke fly once again, this time straight upwards.

His teammates were stunned. _The Sharingan, _Sakura thought when she saw him fly, _it can't read the movements…_

Blood were coming out of Sasuke's mouth, and as he looked down, Lee was muttering some words he only barely heard: "Yes, my techniques are neither Ninjutsu nor Genjutsu," he was saying as he disappeared from the audience's eyes, but appeared again, this time underneath the flying Uchiha. "Shadow Leaf Dance!"

_He jumped,_ Naruto thought, _what is this? Forget another level; he could be stronger than a Chuunin!_

"My techniques are simple Taijutsu, Sasuke-kun," Lee told him in the air, as the bandages around his arms were slowly unwrapping. "You may not believe it because it is so basic, but they say the Sharingan has the ability to reveal all kinds of Nin-, Gen- and Taijutsu. It is true that by reading Ninjutsu or Genjutsu, which needs chakra to be raised or seals to be performed, you get an advantage through the Sharingan. But Taijutsu is different-"

"What do you mean?" Sasuke asked.

Lee let out a chuckle. "Even if you can read my movements with your eyes," he started, "your body does not have the speed to react to my Taijutsu. Basically, even if your eyes can see it, if your body can't move then it's useless."

_Goodbye, Sasuke-kun, _Naruto prayed in mockery. _Just kidding, there's no way a Konoha-nin would kill another… right?_

"Do you know this? Among strong people exists genius types and hardworking types If your Sharingan is a genius type from the Uchiha blood, I am simply a hardworking type who has mastered only Taijutsu," Lee continued. "You could say that my ultimate Taijutsu is the worst possible match up for your Sharingan. I will prove it with this technique; that hardworking surpasses genius."

_What's he planning?_ Sasuke thought in panic, which was weird, since he was normally a calm person.

_Huh,_ his opponent thought when he felt something bind his bandages to the wall. _A windmill? This is…_

"That's enough, Lee," a tortoise said.

_Ah, a turtle,_ Naruto thought, calm as he watched Lee landing in front of the animal. _A talking turtle… Why would a turtle talk? Uzumaki Naruto, you're going crazy, there's no way an animal can talk! _He laughed nervously, as he still watched the tortoise. "It just talked, I'm gonna die…"

Meanwhile, Sasuke was just about to land: "Sasuke-kun," Sakura yelled as she ran forward to catch him from the fall. Luckily, she made it. "Are you alright, Sasuke-kun?" she asked but received no answer. _He's shaken, he didn't even protect himself form the fall._

Lee muttered: "So you were watching…"

"Lee!" the tortoise exclaimed. "That technique is forbidden!"

"I'm sorry I just…" The tortoise glared at him, which made Lee flinch in fear. "But… I was not planning on using the other!"

Naruto walked over to the other two. "Hey, that's a turtle right?"

"Isn't that obvious?" Sakura questioned, slightly annoyed.

"Can a turtle talk?"

"How should I know?"

"You fool!" the tortoise scolded. "You think you can get away with an excuse like that?! You already know what it means for a ninja to reveal his special techniques! Are you prepared to pay?!"

_Damn,_ Sasuke thought, _I lost to these weirdoes…_

"Then here comes Gai-sensei!" And with a sound, a cloud of smoke appeared on the back of the tortoise.

_Gai-sensei, _Naruto thought, with wide eyes. _I knew I had seen him before! He resembles Gai-sensei!_

"Geez," a voice exclaimed, revealing Maito Gai! Posing… "You guys are the epitome of adolescence!"

_My student runs 20 laps a day, so I'm actually going easy on you. Not to mention, he does 5000 pinky finger pushups, with each pinky, 1000 one-legged sit-ups on each leg, runs around town on his hands, kicks a tree at least 4000 times, with each leg and punches a tree 4000 times with each hand. There is no such thing as impossible for my Lee-kun! He's only a year older than you, too._

_Lee-kun is Lee-san,_ Naruto thought, _I should've known…_

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**Thank you for reading, I hope to get some constructive criticism, instead of flames… What can I do better? What did you like about this chapter, or the other chapters? Should I have more of this, or that or something else? Please do review and help me out, so I can please you all. Also, the next chapter consists the debut of Team Ten.**


	15. Chapter 15

**Hello, sorry for the late update, I've been really into school… Like, so far I've done all my homework… so far. So once again, this chapter was Beta'ed by Blackrazgriz, so credit to him and I thank him for his help. I don't have much to say, other than thank you for reading, I hope you enjoy.**

**Summary:**

Naruto grew up in another village, a non-ninja village, where team Kakashi is coincidently having a mission.

* * *

**Chapter 15**

"Lee," Gai said as he motioned for him to come closer. Lee heeded his sensei then…

"You fool!" Gai roared as he punched him on the cheek, sending his mini clone flying to the ground. "You are… you are…"

"Sensei," Lee started, crying, "I… I…"

"That's enough Lee, you don't have to say it!" he answered and hugged his student, who was still lying on the floor. "Yes, that's what youth is all about! Youth and mistakes go together! But you did start a fight and almost broke my rules; your punishment will take place after the Chuunin exams!"

Lee saluted: "Yes, sensei!"

_I lost to them, _Sasuke thought, depressed. _How could I lose to him?_

Gai looked towards them. "I believe I haven't met Uchiha Sasuke or Haruno Sakura yet," he said. "Although, I bet you've heard about me before! I am Maito Gai! Up until now I have 50 wins, and 49 losses against Hatake Kakashi, my eternal rival! I'm stronger than him!"

_He might actually be,_ Sakura thought, as she looked at Lee and then back at Gai. _To have become this strong in just a year, this sensei must be quite an opponent for Kakashi-sensei._

"Gai-sensei," Naruto said with sparkles in his eyes. "I knew I had seen Lee-san before, he's the splitting image of Maito Gai-sensei! Ah, but-"

"We don't have time for that!" Gai yelled, startling Team Seven. "Naruto-kun and company, I'm sorry about Lee! I swear on this beautiful, youthful face that it won't happen again! Well, you guys and Lee should head over to the class room now!"

Naruto looked over at Lee, who was currently wrapping his hands back in the bandages. _Huh,_ he wondered when he caught a glimpse of his hands. They were full of cuts and bruises, even some stitches. _No way, he… Could it be he…?_

"Well then, good luck Lee, and Kakashi's kids!" Gai started, and waved at them as he disappeared with a teleportation technique.

When he was gone, Lee finished bandaging his hands once again and looked at Sasuke. "Sasuke-kun, if you were impressed by my skills, you will be greatly disappointed in your own when you hear that I am not the strongest Genin in Konoha. The strongest Genin is most likely on my team," Lee started out. "I entered this exam to defeat him, and you are also one of my targets. Be prepared during the exam!" he finished as he jumped away.

Watching Lee jump off, Sasuke clenched his hands tightly. _There are such strong people in this exam, this is not going to be a walk in the sand as I expected, _he thought. "I'll defeat him next time…"

"Are you sure?" Naruto interrupted. "You both saw his hands too, right? They're even worse than what mine were during the Taijutsu week. And according to Gai-sensei, Lee-san has trained a lot more than I did in that week. My Taijutsu week would be half of his daily schedule…"

Sasuke and Sakura thought for a moment, until the Uchiha boy began smirking. "Pft," Sasuke chuckled. "Sounds interesting, this exam is just getting better. I honestly can't wait for the results. Let's go, Naruto, Sakura!"

Naruto looked at the two, who were sparkling with confidence. _I guess nothing can go wrong with those two by my side…_

*o*o*o*

"So you're finally here," Kakashi said with an eye-smile, as he greeted the three Genins. "Naruto-kun, you've made it this far and your inclusion into the team made it possible for Team Seven to participate in this exam. From now on, your teamwork is all that matters, do your best at the exam. Now, any questions?"

Naruto nodded, signaling that he had a question. "Is Gai-sensei really stronger than you?"

"Of course not, that's ridiculous," he answered quickly. "Any other?"

Naruto nodded once again: "Why is it a team exam? Shouldn't they judge the individual ninja's ability?"

"Chuunin means that you're also becoming a leader," Kakashi started. "Teamwork and leadership is what differentiates a Chuunin from you Genin, so that's why. Are there any other questions; from someone who is not Naruto?"

_How rude, _Naruto thought with a pout. _I even had a ton of questions…_

"Then," he started out once again with a glint in his eyes, "you may enter the doors and see your rivals, it's time for the Chuunin exams."

The three Genins were unable to hold their smiles. Sasuke, in particular, rocked the smirk. They walked towards the door leading into the classroom, with Sasuke leading in the front and his teammates close behind him as he opened the doors.

*o*o*o*

Naruto's eyes widened at the sight in front of him. Ninja, ninja everywhere. Some from Suna, some from Kumo, some from Kiri, Kusa, Ame, Taki and so on and on. He suddenly felt a lot of pressure, and felt his palms become sweaty. He was nervous. He took a deep breath in and exhaled loudly, as he turned to his teammates, who didn't seem affected at all.

"Well then," Sasuke started, "I guess we should find ourselves a seat and- urgh!" he sounded, as he was interrupted by a girl, with pale blonde hair, jumping on his back and hugging him. The girl squealed loudly, blissfully calling for Sasuke.

_E-Eh, _Naruto wondered, _Sasuke-kun was attacked?! S-Sakura-san, what-_ he decided not to think anymore, after he saw the face of his female teammate. She looked indignant. Naruto had never seen her that angry before, so he was kind of scared by the visible veins on her forehead.

"Ino-pig!" she exclaimed loudly hitting her in the head. "Don't just casually hug Sasuke-kun in front of us!"

The blonde girl held her head with a slight wince, but recovered: "I don't see a problem in it, I'm sure Sasuke-kun missed me just as much as I missed him," she retorted. "So go away, Forehead."

"Um," Naruto muttered, "who is she?"

Ino looked at him, and recognized him at once: "You're the one who wanted to buy flowers for the Hyuuga clan," she stated. "You had a weird conversation with the other guy, too. He almost raised the price on those irises. I had a good laugh about that later on."

"You went to buy flowers from Yamanaka's?" Sakura questioned, with a hint of anger in her voice. "Ino-pig, this is Uzumaki Naruto-kun. He's our new member. Naruto-kun, this is Yamanaka Ino-pig, she's a member of Team Ten."

_It isn't actually Ino-pig, right? _Naruto wondered. _Better just call her, Ino-san… _"Nice to meet you, Ino-san."

"You too, Naruto-kun," she replied with a smile and turned around to call her team over. "Shikamaru, Chouji, come over here and meet Team Seven's new member."

"Troublesome," a lazy voice responded as a guy with brown hair in a ponytail that looked like a pineapple yawned loudly. "Is that the guy Asuma-sensei trained in chakra control? I've seen him before… but where?"

Naruto scratched the back of his head. "Well, I've been in the village for a little over a month now, maybe you've seen me on the streets?" he suggested with a smile.

"Nope, not at all," he answered plainly. "I just remember those marks on your face from when I was younger. There was another boy who had those exact marks… Though, he disappeared so suddenly, seven years ago that is."

The rest of Team Seven turned their heads to the lazy boy with wide eyes. Naruto's eyes were just as wide, when he heard that. "T-These are birth marks… M-"

"Anyways," Ino interrupted, "this is Nara Shikamaru," she said as she pointed to the lazy boy, "he thinks everything is troublesome, so don't take him seriously. The other one is Akimichi Chouji; he's not fat, just big-boned."

Chouji was eating some chips and waved at him, as a greeting. "Akimichi Chouji, at your service, Naruto-kun," he said with a smile.

Naruto smiled back. "Me too," he answered simply. "I'm Uzumaki Naruto."

"I see the whole group is together," a voice called out, revealing Team Eight. "This is the first time since graduation that the eight of us are together. Of course, we have a new member of our little Rookie Club, right Naruto?" Kiba said with a smile.

Shikamaru was still staring at Naruto. _Chouji knew his name before Ino even mentioned it, _he thought, _it really is Naruto from back then… But why did he disappear? Where did he go? _He stopped thinking, when he felt a poke on his lower-back. He turned to see Sasuke with a serious expression. "You want to know if I know him."

Sasuke nodded in respond. "Come over here for a bit, we'll just let these idiots be loud…" Sasuke said, as they both walked away from the group.

"What do you already know about him?" Shikamaru asked.

"Apparently, the Corn Village found him when he was five," Sasuke started, "he has had amnesia ever since. He didn't remember where he was from, only his name and age."

_Amnesia,_ Shikamaru thought, suspiciously. _What could've caused that?_

"A bit of his memory returned when he saw my Sharingan and a little more after he arrived to this village, so we also know that this is where he's originally from," he continued. "Do you know him?"

Shikamaru nodded. "Yeah, but we only met for a little bit," he answered. "Chouji and I met him one day, and the next day we couldn't find him anywhere, even though we had planned on meeting that day… you know what; let's talk more about it after this exam, right now there seems to be a little trouble over there."

Sasuke looked at the loud group, and saw another person with them. A guy with silver hair in a spiky pony-tail and round glasses had showed up. The two of them walked towards the group to hear what he had to say.

"You guys are rookies just out of the academy, right?" the stranger said with an annoyed tone. "Screaming like school girls, seriously, this isn't a picnic."

"Who're you?" Ino asked, just as annoyed and with a glare.

"The name is Kabuto, but that doesn't matter," he said and looked at what was behind the rookies. "Instead of that, look behind you. This exam is tough; some people have been doing this for years. This is already my seventh time."

"Whoa, seventh time," Naruto muttered. "If I recall, Sakura-san told me that it's held twice a year, so this is your fourth year…"

"But I guess I have to be kind to the little rookies," Kabuto said with a chuckle and took out some cards from his pocket. "I'll share some of my information with you, with these nin-info cards."

"Nin-info cards?" Sakura questioned.

"They're basically cards, which has info burned on to them with chakra," he explained. "I have four years' worth of info here, over 200 cards. They look blank, but to open the info on these cards you have to use my chakra. Like this…" he took out a card and put it on the floor, and the rookies beside him formed a circle to watch. A cloud of smoke formed, and out came a graph…

"Wow, that's so easy to read," Ino said with a smile. "What kind of graph is it?"

Kabuto chuckled at their amazement. "This is the graph over how many participants there are from each village," he responded. "Konoha, Suna, Ame, Taki, Oto, there are many outstanding Genin from various hidden villages gathered here to take the exam. Well, Otogakure, the Village Hidden in the Sound, is still a small village, since it was created last year. As such, there isn't much information about them. I even heard they attacked a small village a little while away from Konoha, but that's probably just a rumor."

"How much do you know about Oto?" Naruto asked.

Kabuto looked up at him. "Hm, well, I know that they were just formed last year, nothing else. It's still a small village, so they shouldn't be much trouble for you."

"Then what about their participants? It's written in the graph, that they only have three Genin in the Chuunin exams, so who are they?" he questioned. "Please tell me everything!"

"I'm afraid that I don't know anything about them yet," he responded. "Calm down… huh? Weren't there supposed to be eight rookies only?"

"Do you have information on individual ninjas?" Sasuke interrupted, avoiding his question. "I have someone I want to know more about."

Kabuto turned his attention to the boy, and with a smile answered: "Yeah, sure. Who do you want information on? I have information on veterans and newcomers in the exam so choose your favorite," he chuckled.

"Not exactly my favorites, but Rock Lee from Konoha and… what was the name of that guy who asked you, Naruto?" he asked Naruto, and turned his head to him.

"Oh, Sabaku no Gaara," Naruto started out. "Why do you want information on him as well?"

"Yeah," Sasuke retorted with a nod and turned to Kabuto, once again. "It's Rock Lee from Konoha and Sabaku no Gaara from Suna."

Kabuto nodded and took two cards from the bunch and put them on the ground. He put his finger on the first one and the rookies watched as it turned around with power. With a small cloud of smoke, text was written and pictures were shown. "Let's start with Rock Lee. He's a year older than you guys, mission history: D rank – 20 completed, C rank – 12 completed. His sensei is Maito Gai, and his Taijutsu have improved greatly this year. The rest is nothing impressive. Last year he gained attention as a talented new Genin, but he did not participate in this exam. Like you it's his first year. On his team is, Hyuuga Neji and Tenten."

"Hyuga Neji-san," Naruto muttered and looked at Hinata. "Eh, that guy was your cousin?"

Hinata nodded in respond, but didn't say anything else. _Neji-niisan is really participating; I'll have to do my best._

"Next is Sabaku no Gaara," Kabuto continued. "Mission history: C rank – eight completed, B rank – one completed… Wow, a B rank as a Genin, that's impressive. Since he's a newcomer from another village, I don't have much information on him, like I had on Rock Lee, but… it seems like he made it back from all of his missions without even a scratch."

As Kabuto finished, Naruto looked out at the participants. _This isn't gonna be easy, I'll just have to find the Oto Genin and confirm about the rumors, but I don't know where they could be in this crowd, _he thought._ The graph from before showed that only three Oto Genin are participating, so the chance of finding them right away is near impossible-_

At that moment, Naruto swore he felt a quick breeze fly past him. The breeze was a front for the ninja, because when he turned around, Kabuto was on the floor, throwing up, and three ninja were standing in front of him. Naruto ran towards him to help him, but when he glanced at the three ninja, his eyes widened and he froze on the spot.

The ninja cloaked in the breeze all wore a note on their forehead protectors. The note of the village hidden in the sound, Otogakure.

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**Thank you for reading! And I'm sorry for the lame cliffhanger, I like doing that. Well, please do tell what you liked the most about this chapter and what you hated the most, then I'll try my best to improve.**


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